


Campfire Story

by TheoBurr



Category: Rookie Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, F/F, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-04-17 16:46:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 73,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4674080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheoBurr/pseuds/TheoBurr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Silly summer camp story focusing primarily on Gail and Holly. Includes some of the other Rookie Blue crew and some original characters. I will try to update as soon as I can but updates are not regular because my life is hectic. I was asked to put this up on here so I finally have gotten around to it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The car pulled to a stop in a parking spot furthest from the main building. Gail knew that it meant there was going to be a "talk" and she waited, knowing not to move from her seat before Elaine Peck told her she could. So, she used the silence to really get a good look at her surroundings. The forest surrounding the parking lot up to the building was very open and light filtered down through the trees making everything look very bright and alive. Nature wasn't too bad when you were just looking at it.

However, her mind fluttered back to how she would be spending the next few weeks out and about in nature and she scowled.

"This is your last chance, Gail," said Elaine without even looking over at her daughter. "We can go home now and I can get you into the summer internship program, no questions asked."

Gail didn't say a thing. She just waited for Elaine to get the gravity of her silence. Luckily, her mother usually got the hint rather quickly.

"Fine. Go. Call your father when you need to be picked up."

Without another word, or even a goodbye, Elaine Peck left her daughter at the bottom of a hill. Gail watched the car drive away through the trees before turning to look up the parking lot toward the cabin at the top. Why did she let Dov talk her into this? Just because he was her best friend doesn't mean he had good ideas or that she should listen to him. Yet, here she was, in the parking lot of the Shady Hills Campground, about to help his goofy ass council a bunch of snot nosed brats for the summer.

Gail continued looking up at the cabin before looking down at the two big bags at her feet. She was not carrying those up the hill. So, she quickly pulled out her phone and was about to hit call when she heard the very voice she was thinking about behind her.

"Gail! Hey!" Dov came running up to her and punched at her arm. She rolled her eyes at his big goofy grin. He had obviously been here for a while because he was already wearing a shirt with the camp name in big happy letters across his chest. Although Gail couldn't imagine what he was doing in the woods behind her.

"Carry my bags," she said. Dov took this as the only greeting he was getting.

"Right away, your royal highness," said Dov with a grin. He heaved the duffle bag onto his shoulder and pulled the rolling bag after him. "You know, you're lucky I'm your friend."

"And you're lucky to be friends with me," she quipped. As they made their way up the hill, Gail sighed. "Why did I let you talk me into this, Epstein?"

"Well, I was telling you about how I signed up, then your mom came in the room talking about the summer internship with the Toronto PD, and you quickly told her that you already had plans to help me over the summer because I had 'so desperately begged you to protect me from bears', as you put it."

"Oh yeah," huffed Gail. She glared around her at all the nature, wondering if the mace she had in her backpack would be enough to take down a rogue bear if she needed to. "And if anyone asks…"

"I got on my knees and pleaded for dear life," laughed Dov.

"Good." Gail grabbed his free hand and swung it between them. She was smiling. She might hate nature and the sun might hate her pale complexion but she didn't hate Dov and she had loads of sunscreen so maybe the summer wouldn't be so bad. At least she didn't have to spend it anywhere near her mother or the police department. Her entire future would be the police as soon as she graduated college, just like her mother wanted. Gail knew she was just delaying the inevitable Peck future but it was all she could do to keep her head on straight.

At the top of the hill she dropped Dov's hand and readjusted her pack.

"Did you really need to bring this much crap?" heaved the asthmatic man behind her.

"Hey, this is my first time having to survive in the wilderness, I didn't know what to bring," snapped Gail.

"One of these bags is just filled with mace and sunscreen isn't it? And just so you know, we're camp counselors. We'll be sleeping in cabins, not on the ground in the woods."

"Shut it, Epstein."

"Can't you just call me Dov? Is it really so hard?" Dov pulled an inhaler out of her pocket to use while Gail inspected the people milling around the entrance to the cabin. The adults were signing their kids in with the man and woman at the table that was set up in the grass in front of the building she assumed was for administration.

"Force of habit," she said while still watching the smiling, excited faces spread out before her. "Ugh. Do you think it's too late to call my mom?"

"Do you really think she'll answer?"

"Good point. But look at them," she gestured toward the people. "They're just all so happy. It's…it's…"

"Life affirming?" replied Dov with a laugh. He knew that wasn't what she was going to say.

"Disgusting," she said while turning to scowl at him.

"Oh man, 10 bucks says you're everyone's favorite counselor. Come on," Dov motioned for Gail to follow him into the cabin. He set her bags down outside the door and walked in, Gail on her heels. "Let's get you signed in so we can get you your shirts."

"Ooo. I'm so excited," said Gail sarcastically, following Dov to the administration building before them.

The guy Gail signed in with was as bright and cheery as the sun so Gail had to hold back a scowl. Dov was almost in tears trying to hold in his laughter at Gail's faux happy face which he always likened to more like the look of a serial killer than someone who was actually in a good mood.

They had met at university and even though he was jealous of her family name, since they were both headed to the academy, he was funny enough to hang out around. And getting drunk and playing video games with him the past few months was a good distraction from getting dumped by Nick.

"Okay, it's great to meet you Gail, I'm glad Dov convinced you to help out." Mr. Smiley said, raising his hand for a high five. Gail just stared at him for a minute before forcing a smile and unenthusiastically returning the gesture. Luckily for her she had also brought enough hand sanitizer with her to keep her sane. "Dov, why don't you show your friend here where she'll be bunking."

Dov lead Gail out the door, picked up her bags, and headed down a path that took them into the trees and away from the building and parking lot.

"Why do I get the feeling this isn't your first summer doing this?" asked Gail.

"Because it's not. Doug, the guy you just met, great guy, is a family friend. I've been helping out here since I left high school." They walked up to a small cabin and Dov dropped the bags at the side of the door. "Okay, so this is where the female counselors sleep. Guys cabin is that one," he pointed to the identical cabin next door. "There are only three other female counselors this year so you'll probably have a whole bunk to yourself."

"Bunks?" snapped Gail, narrowing her eyes at her friend.

"Yes, Gail. Bunks. Have you never been to summer camp before?" Dov stopped and shook his head. He held up a hand to interrupt whatever snide comment about to escape the blonde's red lips. It had only taken him a fraction of a second to remember the privileged life Gail Peck lived. "Never mind. Of course you haven't. Look. You have two choices Gail, you stay here and have some fun in the sun with your best pal Dov Epstein. Or you call your dad and get paraded around a police station by your mom as the next piece of the Peck dynasty."

The pursed lips and narrowed eyes told Dov which option she chose.

"Now. Play nice with whoever is in there and I will come get you in a bit for lunch." Dov waited for Gail to open the screen door before turning to leave.

"Ugh. Dov, what if there are happy girls in there?" Dov almost laughed at the look of disgust on her face. "What if they're all happy and peppy and smiling? What if they want to braid hair and paint nails and…Dov? What if they want to…talk to me?"

"Gail. No one wants to talk to you," laughed Dov as he left Gail there staring at the door in front of her.

Gail thought about running after him and slugging him in the arm until she remembered that she could just do it later without having to run. It would be more surprising out of nowhere anyways. Punching him while he's eating would probably be best. She pushed the door open and dragged her bags in before looking around. Lucky for her no one was there.

The room was small and seemed even smaller because there were 5 bunk beds taking up most of the space. Each bunk had two lockers pushed underneath it. Remembering what Dov said about the number of women she'd be sharing the room with, Gail got an idea.

Despite her small frame, Gail actually had a very athletic build because of her mother's constant training regimes. When you've had a personal trainer since you were 10, you tended to be in pretty good shape. This made pushing one of the sturdy wooden bunk frames into another rather simple. This formed a double bed in the corner giving the room a bit more breathing space and Gail a place to hide from her cabin mates. Being social was exhausting and she just knew summer camp was going to be draining.

She pulled her own sheets out of the duffle bag and used the fitted sheet on the inner mattress and the top sheet on the adjoined one. Then she used an extra sheet to hang over the side of the bunks so the beds became her own little Gail cave. She threw her bags onto the extra mattress, leaving a small entrance for her to crawl back to her own little hiding space.

"Damn. Wish I'd thought of that."

Gail jumped and smacked her head into the top bunk. She grabbed the back of her head as she fell to her knees, cursing.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Suddenly a hand was on Gail's shoulder, another pulled the hand off the back of Gail's head. "Let me look."

With a shake of her head, Gail pushed away from the woman next to her and sat against the wall rubbing at the back of her head.

"I'm fine thanks," snapped the blonde. She barely let people she knew touch her, what made this stranger think she could. "Who are you?"

"Are you sure?"

Gail looked up. Her cold glare met warm eyes looking over her face. The woman herself would actually classify as quite stunning if not for her irritatingly close proximity. Her skin was a nice tan color that Gail could only dream of, thick brown hair fell around her face in wavy locks, and her eyes…well, her eyes were actually one of the few exceptions to Gail's personal belief that brown eyes were awful.

"Is there any particular reason you're this close to me?" Gail turned her head away and pushed herself off the floor.

"Well, I was going to check to see if you cracked your skull open but with your sunny disposition I can already tell that brain damage is more likely," the woman stood up and crossed her arms across her chest. She was taller than Gail by a couple inches and had a smirk on her face that irked her. "My name is Holly. Just came to grab something. I really didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me," huffed Gail.

"You just smashed your occipital lobe into a wooden bed frame," laughed Holly. Gail sat down on the bed and watched the brunette shake her head in defeat at Gail's narrowed eyes. "Whatever. If you start seeing double, come see me at the nurse's station."

With that, Holly turned and walked to another bunk. She pulled a bright red first aid kit from one of the lockboxes under the bed and was about to leave when she turned back to look over Gail once more.

"What?"

"Well, with the way you were just staring at my ass I figured I'd ask for your name," said Holly. Her mouth curved into that smirk again.

"Wow. Conceited much?" quipped Gail. She actually had been looking over the other woman's body. Holly was wearing short shorts and a tank top which showed off a very athletic build but she would call her mother willingly before admitting she had been looking at her ass. "I was just trying to decipher your nerd speak."

That smirk again. Gail glared.

"Occipital lobe? Didn't realize that was what constituted as nerd speak…" Holly was obviously still trying to get Gail to disclose her name. She figured she'd throw the woman a bone. Maybe it would get rid of her faster.

"Gail."

"Okay, Gail. Well, like I said, you start seeing double, you come see me." And with one last sideways smile, Holly was gone.

Gail let out a long sigh and laid back on the bed. She winced when the back of her head hit the mattress and rubbed at it again feeling a small lump. She hadn't even been at camp an hour and she was already tempted to call her father.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: A comment made me realize that I didn't make it clear enough about their ages in the first chapter. Bad Theo. This chapter is actually when it is touched on. Gail is about 22 and just finished college. Holly is around 26 and just finished her 3rd year of med school. Hope that helps.

A loud banging on wood pulled Gail from her nap. After Holly had left, Gail's head had begun to pound and she decided to try and sleep it off. It was obvious to her that the drum solo in her brain meant her plan had failed. She wasn't seeing double but she definitely needed some aspirin. Then the banging returned.

"Hey Gail! Gonna grab lunch. Let's go," rang Dov's voice through the door.

Gail groaned and headed for the door. She yanked it open and stared at him.

"Napping already? Wow. Hey, throw your shirt on and let's go. Food." Dov smiled. "I know you love napping but I know you love food more."

"Gross," moaned Gail at the idea of anyone knowing anything about her. She shut the door and returned a minute later with the disgustingly happy camp shirt on with her make up looking more pristine than when she had arrived at the camp.

As they headed down a path around the building Dov inspected her with some intensity.

"What" she snapped.

"You okay? You look a bit rough," said Dov with a smile. He always found enjoyment in her pain. That was okay though because she openly laughed at his. Especially when it was her doing.

"I hit my head on the bunk. I need pain killers. Or a lobotomy," she said was they made their way toward a large building on the other side of an open field filled with kids and teens.

"Well, I've never done a lobotomy but hey sounds fun," said a voice from behind them. Gail stopped walking at the familiar sound and turned to see Holly walking rather closely behind them. If that smirk had bothered Gail before, it was really getting under her skin now.

"Hey Holly," said Dov. "Holly, this is Gail. Gail, this is…"

"Yeah, we've met. She's the reason my head feels like a metal concert right now," huffed Gail, turning back toward the building where Gail knew the food was. She needed junk food. She needed junk food immediately. Dov gave Holly a confused look. She shrugged and they both followed after the disgruntled blonde.

"Not my fault," laughed Holly. "If I had known you were so jumpy I would have knocked first."

"I'm not jumpy," mumbled Gail.

"You're right," followed Holly. "I obviously missed it when the bunk bed punched you in the back of the head. I could have sworn you jumped up and smacked your skull into it but hey, I've been wrong before. Once."

Gail laughed before scowling again. Holly was gorgeous and funny. Her existence just seemed rude and Gail's head was pounding too much for her to play nice. Very rarely was Gail left unable to think of a snappy comeback and this Holly woman seemed to be doing nothing but that to the blonde.

"No, really Epstein, where's the junk food?" Gail looked at the buffet and then to the serving trays. Everything looked healthy and Gail was not in the mood for healthy.

"Gail, it's a summer camp. For kids. Parents usually like it when their kids aren't fed nothing but junk food for months," said Dov. He grabbed a tray and started shoving anything and everything on it. Gail groaned and piled a few things on her tray.

They moved carefully through the excited bodies running everywhere and sat at a table where Holly was already eating and waving her hands about energetically to a girl. It was only when they sat down that Gail realized Holly wasn't just waving her hands about like an idiot but was actually signing to the girl standing next to her.

"That's great. I'm glad you've already met some kids to hang out with," signed Holly. "I told you at least one kid here would know sign language."

Gail was pretty sure they didn't know she knew what they were saying and just kept watching them while poking at the rabbit food in front of her. She could hear Dov going on about something next to her but she wasn't listening to him.

"Yeah, he's really cool. His brother is deaf and he's here too so he said I could eat with them," said the young girl. She looked similar to Holly. Long wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and a little tanner than the people around her. She looked to be around 12 though, so Gail figured Holly wasn't her mom. Holly looked too young for a kid that age. Niece probably. The girl looked over at Dov and Gail and furrowed her brow at the site of Gail. "Holly why is that blonde girl glaring at us?"

Holly looked over at Gail and smiled.

"She hit her head earlier. My diagnosis is brain damage." The girl laughed. "She refused care. I'm afraid the damage is irreversible at this point."

"She's cute," said the girl with a sly smile at Holly. "Angry. But cute."

"And you're too young to be telling me when girls are cute," laughed Holly. Then Holly turned to Gail and Dov.

"Hey, guys this is my niece Emily," she indicated the girl standing next to her. Dov waved and said his name, while Holly signed. Gail smirked and waved. Holly signed her name to Emily despite Gail not saying it.

Emily looked at Holly and laughed. "Talk to you later, Holly."

As Emily walked off and met up with a lanky boy with mousy hair, Gail smiled. She had never actually ran into a situation where knowing sign language gave her any sort of secret advantage but in this moment she was pretty happy that her mother had made her learn it. Holly looked over at Gail with a quizzical look. Before the brunette could say anything, two more women in counselor shirts sat down next to Holly and waved at Dov.

"Hey," said Dov. He elbowed Gail and gestured toward the two women. "Gail Peck, that's Chloe Price and that's Andy McNally."

"McNally?" asked Gail. She had heard that name before.

"Peck?" asked Andy with equal interest.

"Your dad was a cop." Anytime someone actually recognized the Peck name they were either a cop or a criminal and Gail remembered meeting a McNally before at one of her parents' parties.

"And your parents and your brother are cops," said Andy. Gail smirked and nodded.

"Hey that's so cool! My godfather is a cop and I'm totally joining the police academy after I finish college. Are either of you joining? I mean, what are the chances you guys would meet here? This is too cool." Gail glared at Chloe. How did all those words manage to come out of that small person so quickly?

"Yeah, I'm going after this summer," said Andy.

"Hey! Us too!" shouted Dov while hitting Gail on the shoulder. Gail flinched and narrowed her eyes at her friend. However, instead of beating him to a pulp for talking for her she just rolled her eyes and went back to her food while Dov, Andy, and Chloe talked about the police academy. She had agreed to go to this summer camp thing to escape her future for a while, not have it shoved in her face. And she certainly didn't want to talk about it with Captain Smiles and the Duchess of Polite.

Gail looked across from her at Holly. The brunette was already watching her and heat rose to Gail's cheeks at the way the other woman didn't even look embarrassed for being caught staring.

"Don't tell me you're a future cop too," said Gail with a little more bite than she intended.

"Nope. Just finished my third year of medical school," said Holly with that smile that Gail was starting to think was a permanent feature of her face.

"Good, we can be friends." Gail finished her salad and started poking at the pile of fruit still on her tray. "I'm over cops."

"Oh we can, huh? I feel honored."

"You should. I'm a pretty great friend."

"You must be with that attitude," quipped Holly.

Gail would never admit it, not even to herself, but she was having fun talking to Holly. Occasionally she would meet people who could keep up with her abrasiveness but not like this. Not like Holly. Then, when Holly pulled a bag of cheese puffs out of her first aid kit, which Gail was starting to suspect was actually a lunchbox, Gail froze.

"I will sell you my soul for those," she pointed at the bag of her favorite junk food.

"Do you even have one to sell?" laughed Holly but Gail was looking so intently at the bag that Holly quickly caved. "Say one nice thing about someone at this table and you can have them."

Gail glared up at her.

"Dov isn't nearly as stupid as he looks," she finally said causing Dov to look over from his conversation and shove her. Holly looked at her with a look that said she could do better. "You aren't the most boring person I've ever talked to."

If she wasn't so hungry for those cheese puffs Gail would have been insulted with how hard Holly was laughing at her right now. The others next to them also chuckled having caught on to what was happening.

"Holly, the sad thing is that, for Gail, that really is a compliment," said Dov.

"Yeah. I can tell," said Holly, wiping a tear from her eye. "Here."

Gail caught the bag and immediately ripped it open, practically moaning when she shoved the artificially flavored puffs into her mouth.

"Dov, how do you seem to know everyone?" Gail managed to ask after sating her cheese puff lust.

"Well, Gail. If you had come to orientation last week you would also know everyone," said Dov. "Holly, Chloe, Andy, and all the other counselors where there. Just not you."

"I had other things to do," replied Gail. "Super important. Busy schedule."

"Beating 12 year olds on the internet in Counter Strike isn't really super important." Dov shoved Gail and reached over to steal a cheese puff but Gail quickly moved the bag out of his reach.

While Gail was distracted with Dov, Holly reached over took a cheese puff out of the bag. Gail looked over at her then back at Dov and continued pushing him back.

"What the hell!? Why does she get one?" Dov gestured to Holly.

"She gave them to me."

"You never share food. I've given you tons of food." Dov groaned. "You almost stabbed me with a fork once because I tried to eat some fries I decided to share with you."

Finally Gail pushed herself off the bench. She quickly moved to the other side of the table and shoved Holly over, their sides pressed together from lack of space. The other women were all laughing at the scene and the offended look on Dov's face. Gail held the bag open in Holly's direction while staring across at her friend and laughed when Holly took another puff and Dov started to whine. Despite the lingering pain in the back of her head, Gail was starting to warm up to summer camp.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Dov explained that the first day was usually just about getting everyone there and signed in and situated in their cabins so to not expect it to be very eventful. Trying to get kids to do anything while they're all more worried about social cliques was nearly impossible. So, while the others ran off to help direct kids, Dov covered the schedule with Gail and all the other information she had missed from orientation. They hung out under a large shady tree that was next to the cafeteria while Dov went over the schedule for the summer.

"You know I'm not going to remember any of this, right?" Gail leaned back against the tree trunk and crossed her arms over her chest. Despite the time passed, Gail's head was still pounding so she closed her eyes to try and get the pounding to stop.

"Well, I'm still going to tell you," said Dov. "Luckily you don't really have to worry too much about running anything. We're mostly here for supervision. We help the lead counselors with the kids, make sure they don't drown or wander off into the woods and get eaten by raccoons."

Gail's head was finally too much for her. She got up and then stopped a few steps from Dov when she realized she had no idea where to go. She squinted to focus her eyes against her sunny surroundings, looking for some indication of the camp's medical facilities.

"Where's the nurse's station?"

"Huh? Oh. It's on the side of the admin building. You okay? Need me to go with you?" Dov's hand was on her shoulder and she shrugged him off.

"I'm fine. I just need some aspirin." Her brain seemed to pulsate in agreement.

Ignoring a couple of teens with questions, she made it to the nurse's station and walked into the room, loving the feel of the cool circulated air. Gail hadn't even realized how hot it actually was outside until she felt the cool reminder of modern technology. The room was pretty small. A couple of beds, each with a nightstand, and with curtains that could be pulled around them for privacy. There were a couple of medical cases and filing cabinets across from the door that Gail quickly eyed for any sign of aspirin.

"Fancy meeting you here." Gail turned to see Holly sitting at a small, cluttered desk. She was looking up at the blonde from a text book open in front of her.

"You're so weird," sighed Gail. "I need aspirin."

"Oh no," teased Holly. "Did you hurt your head? Were you attacked?"

"Shut up. Aspirin. Now." Gail really liked Holly but she was contemplating killing her for a little medicated relief.

Holly leaned back in the chair and crossed one of her long, tan legs over the other. Her stupidly long, tan legs, Gail thought to herself. Her stupidly long, tan legs, in those small, hip hugging shorts. And why didn't Gail's camp shirt look that good on her own body? This Holly woman was rude. It was just rude to be so attractive.

"What's the magic word?" And there was that stupid smirk again.

"I won't murder you and hide your body in the woods." replied Gail, putting her hands on her hips in defiance of Holly's undeniably funny quips. "That magic enough for you?"

Gail waited for a smartass retort but none came. Holly just smiled and shook her head. She pulled open a desk drawer and tossed a bottle at Gail, who caught it. Checking the label, she quickly popped two pills and tossed the bottle back. She had tried to toss it a little out of reach but Holly's arms seemed to be just as ridiculous as her legs. This woman could not be real. Maybe Gail was actually in a coma and this woman was some angel of death.

"You probably wouldn't get away with it though," said Holly as she returned the medicine to the drawer.

"Away with what?" Gail sat down in a chair from across the desk. She told herself she was just staying in the room until her head stopped pounding. The fresh air would surely make healing impossible.

"Murdering me," said Holly as her eyes returned to her text book. Gail watched the brunette pick up a pen and start jotting down notes as she read. As her brown eyes skimmed down the page she would underline or circle things and then write in small tight letters in the margins.

"How do you figure that? I could be a master serial killer for all you know." Gail propped her legs up on the adjoining chairs and leaned against the wall. "Hell, I could be sizing you up right now for my next kill."

"True. But it's actually incredibly hard to get away with murder these days. The forensic sciences are amazing and are only getting better the more we learn and the more technology advances. Not to mention the fact that you'd probably leave DNA evidence all over me. Especially if you tried to dispose of my body. Your frame, moving mine…you'd absolutely leave a mess. I guess you could burn my body to try and clear any physical evidence but even that has ways of backfiring. People have ended up burning themselves, keep the gas can, forgetting to clean physical evidence off the can, and so on."

Gail just stared at Holly from her seat. All of those words just poured out of those lips and the woman's head never even moved up once to look at her. In fact, Holly was still making notes the entire time she spoke as if her nerdy brain just went into an autopilot explanation as to why Gail couldn't get away with murdering her.

"Maybe." Gail finally found her voice again. Holly was interesting. Totally weird. But incredibly interesting. Gail decided she liked Holly and Gail Peck could always use more friends. Though just because she liked her didn't mean the feelings were mutual and Gail Peck also wasn't one to beg. She'd have to feel this one out. Something that involved social skills, Gail's greatest weakness. "My parents are cops though. You can't prove a murder if evidence just happens to…go missing."

"Hm…Good point," hummed Holly. She leaned back and tapped her pen to her chin, looking over Gail as if dissecting her. It made Gail feel nervous how intently the brunette studied her. "I didn't think of that."

"So," started Gail, trying to unbundle her nerves. "Med school, huh?"

"Yep. Med school." Holly's intense eyes still hadn't left Gail's face. It's like there was something written on Gail's face and Holly was trying to read it.

"Any focus in particular? Internal medicine? Plastic surgery? Psychology? Hmmm. Yeah, I could totally see you as a shrink." Gail nodded to herself. The way this woman used words, psychiatrist was definitely at the top of the list for Gail's guesses.

"Do I?" Holly looked down at herself as if looking for signs of being a psychiatrist. Like maybe a clipboard and Freudian glasses would just appear out of nowhere. "Guess I'll have to work on that. I'm studying to be a forensic pathologist."

"Forensic pathologist. So, like, the dead body guys? Now that I wouldn't have guessed." Gail ran her eyes over the half of Holly that was visible above the table. "If I passed you on the street I wouldn't think 'oh yeah, she obviously wants to work with dead people for the rest of her life'."

"I'm going to just take that as a compliment because I'm really not sure how else to take it." Holly laughed and went back to taking notes in her book.

"Take it however you want," shrugged Gail. She casually pulled her phone out and started playing Angry Birds. Her head was already feeling a lot better but if Holly asked she was prepared to act like she was dying.

Every once in a while Gail would glance over at Holly, at least until she caught Holly watching her. Those vivid, brown eyes were looking up at her through a few strands of silky hair that had fallen forward while she was reading. Gail was hoping that the heat she felt in her cheeks was just left over from her pale ass being in the sun all morning. After getting caught she tried to just focus on her game and not think about her pounding heart. Why did making friends have to make Gail feel so awkward? This is why Gail Peck didn't have a lot of friends.

"What are you reading?" Gail tried to act casual.

"A book," said Holly with a smile. She didn't look up from the text so Gail figured she was laughing at her own answer. What a nerd, Gail thought.

"No shit. What's it about," inquired Gail.

Holly looked up and rested her head on one hand. For a second Gail thought she had maybe annoyed the other woman a little too much and now she was going to be told off. Defensive measures were running through her head and the thought of just running out the door certainly crossed her mind.

"It's about autopsies," said Holly, her normal smirk cracking into a full smile. If Gail actually believed in super powers she would swear up and down that Holly could read minds.

"That's pretty cool." Gail looked back at her game and realized that she had been on the same level for almost ten minutes. "Lots of gross pictures though, probably."

"More fascinating than gross," laughed Holly. "At least to me."

"You're so weird," said Gail more to herself than to the other woman but she definitely heard her.

"You're the one hanging out with me." Holly was giving Gail her undivided attention at this point. Her pen was forgotten in the pages of her text. She had her elbows on the desk and was holding her head up on them just watching Gail stare blankly at her phone. "So, you obviously like my weird."

"My head was hurting." Gail tried to shrug it off like it was no big deal. Like she would be anywhere else if it weren't for her head.

"Was?" That smirk made Gail's stomach flip.

"Yep. All better now. Super suddenly. You're a miracle worker, doc." said Gail quickly. She shoved her phone into her pocket and exited the building. Before the door closed all the way, she turned and caught a glimpse of a huge toothy smile. Holly was really weird. So, why did Gail find herself wishing she was still back in the nurse's station instead of trying to find Dov in a sea of kids?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Gail tried to calm herself down after leaving the nurse's station in a hurry. She couldn't figure out why her heart felt like it was ready to burst through her chest like the baby alien in that guy's stomach from Alien. It could probably just be chalked up to nerves. Gail was never one to really seek out friends. People tended to just find her and then hang around if they were able to put up with her.

As she pushed her way through a gang of teens to round the corner of some random cabin to head toward her bunk house, Gail suddenly found herself running face first into someone before falling back on her ass. About to yell at whoever dared stand in her way, she froze when she looked up to see Nick grinning down at her.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Nick reached down as if to help her up but Gail shrugged him off and picked herself up. "Aren't you supposed to be off gallivanting around the world with the military? And you know…nowhere near me."

"Hey, Gail. Good to see you too," said Nick. Gail just glared at him, willing him to burst into flames. "One of my friends from basic asked me to help out his brother who can't start until next week. I swear I had no idea you were here. I mean, Gail Peck and the forest…this was sort of the last place I thought I'd see you. Not that it's not nice to see you."

"Yeah well, I can't say the same about you," said Gail as she pushed passed Nick.

Between the cheerful cop twins, Dov, and Nick it was like a veritable who's who of people there to annoy Gail.

"I wanted to escape my life, not have it follow me to summer camp," growled Gail to herself as she stomped toward her cabin. As she crawled across her bags and curled up on the mattress, she wondered if she could hide in the room for four weeks.

It wasn't until the dinner bell that Gail emerged from the dark of her bunk fort to wander out towards the cafeteria. Almost everyone was already seated and eating since Gail had made sure to take her time walking to the building. So, when she inspected the available food she decided to go with quantity over quality and piled as much disgustingly healthy food onto her tray and tried to spot Dov.

When she finally did see Dov, Gail had to actually stop herself from flinging her tray at him just for the chance to hit Nick who was sitting right next to him. They were both in some sort of deeply hilarious conversation with Andy and Chloe. Scowling, Gail headed away from the table and went outside. Even being in the same building as them just seemed too aggravating to stomach.

The sun was already starting to set and it cast a beautiful red glow across the campgrounds. Gail made her way to the picnic table she and Dov had been sitting at after lunch. Much to her dismay, someone was already there but she couldn't make out who it was until she was close enough to set her tray down. It was Holly, her face still glued to the same textbook Gail had seen her with earlier. She dropped her tray on the far end of the table from the nerd to announce her presence. Holly glanced over, an annoyed look on her face until she registered who the intruder was. Suddenly she was smiling at Gail who just watched the change in disposition with curiosity.

"Hello again," said Holly.

"Why are you out here by yourself?" Gail plopped down in front of her try and kicked her boots up onto the seat across from her.

"Why are you?" Holly turned her attention back to her book as she snacked on some carrots in an open baggie next to her lunchbox.

"I just love nature, you know. Fresh air. Bugs. The sun. It's just all so great."

"Hmm…the sarcasm is strong with this one," laughed Holly.

"Sarcasm is what gives a Peck her powers. It's an energy field created by all living things…pissing me off," said Gail. It was only after the words had left her lips that she cursed at how dorky she just made herself sound. But before she had time to really feel any embarrassment, Holly was doubled over her book laughing. Genuine laughter. Not malicious or directed at Gail in any way. Gail was amazed and incredible confused.

"I think it's my turn to say that we can be friends," gasped Holly, wiping tears from her eyes.

"What? My offer wasn't enough before? I had to perform some sort of nerd rite of passage first? Make dumb Star Wars jokes, win a friendship with Holly?" Gail turned her attention to her food so she didn't have to keep looking at the way Holly was watching her. Normally the blonde could figure out what people were thinking about her by just looking at their faces but Holly was different. Gail still hadn't figured out if that was a good or a bad thing.

"No," said Holly. The brunette went back to her textbook. "I'm just having a hard time figuring out your intentions."

"My intentions? It's friendship, Holly. Not a marriage proposal." Gail worked on slowly eating her food. She figured that if she ate it slowly enough the rabbit food would actually manage to fill her up.

"No offense. It's just, I'm in medical school and after next year I'll be doing residency so with the prospect of little to no social life outside of anything related to the medical field I have a tendency to think of people as either a waste of time or worth the distraction. People worthy of being distractions are either interested in what I'm doing or are interesting enough that they offer a learning experience outside of my field. Something more than just getting drunk and partying. Time wasters are the ones who just want to bother me for their own amusement or boredom. I don't have time to be some superiority complex's punching bag."

Holly had said everything in such a matter-of-fact way that Gail was actually in awe of her but with this new information a few questions nagged at Gail's mind. It barely even crossed her mind that there was a chance she could be in the 'waste of time' lineup.

"So, why are you volunteering at a summer camp?"

"My niece," said Holly. She circled something in her text book and ate another couple of small carrots before looking up at Gail and continuing. "My sister was supposed to do it, she's a nurse, but something came up with her husband's family so I offered to step in."

"Hmm. You couldn't pay me to help out my brother," said Gail.

"Why not?" asked Holly. She had closed her textbook and shoved her pen into the pocket on those shorts that Gail was shocked even had pockets. She could have sworn pockets had just been decoration.

"It's nothing against him. My family just isn't very close. When your parents are pretty much considered police royalty you don't really see much of them." Gail wasn't entirely sure why she was sharing any of this with Holly. She wasn't usually one to share these kinds of things with close friends let alone strangers. Maybe Holly was right, maybe she did have brain damage. "And my brother just recently made detective so the family legacy of ignoring Gail continues. Sometimes I'm amazed they remembered to feed me."

Holly seemed to consider Gail's answer carefully, almost like she was figuring out whether or not to push further or back off the subject. Gail was glad that she chose the latter. "My sister and I only really became close after Emily was born. I was a teenager and ended up babysitting a lot so my sister could work."

"How old are you?" asked Gail, forgetting all about her food and finding their conversation much more filling. "You know, if you aren't one of those girls who freaks out when people ask that."

"I'm 26. My sister's in her 30's. We're half-sisters on our dad's side." Gail nodded and it actually dawned on her that she had Holly's undivided attention. She had watched Holly close her book but it hadn't actually sunk in until now that this self-ascribed book worm was studying her instead of some random information about cutting dead bodies open. This made Gail smile and Holly looked at her with a questioning look. "You?"

"I'll be 22 in November." Holly nodded like she already knew the answer. "So, have I made it into your worthy distraction category yet?"

Gail popped a grape into her mouth as casually as she could. She was trying to make it seem like it wouldn't bother her to be considered a waste of time when in all reality Gail really wanted this woman to consider her a friend. She glanced over at Holly for the answer and found the brunette just smiling at her. Then Holly shrugged and turned her attention to her lunchbox.

"I still haven't decided." Holly got up from the table and picked up her stuff. She tossed something across the table at Gail with a smile before heading toward their bunkhouse. Gail hadn't seen what it was yet because she found herself watching the other woman leave but when she looked back at the table she couldn't help but smile again. A package of chocolate snack cakes was resting against her water bottle.

When she finished eating and snuck her empty tray back into the cafeteria, Gail headed to the bunkhouse hoping to crawl into her little bunk fort and just pass out. Although, she found herself dreading actually having to do work and not just roam around the grounds like she had that day. As she approached the cabin, she could see lights on inside and could hear excited girly voices.

With a scowl she entered to find Chloe and Andy sitting with Dov and Nick on one of the bunks talking excitedly about nothing in particular. Holly was in her own bunk, quietly reading a magazine or something. Gail immediately pointed at Nick whose attention had been drawn to her when she opened the door.

"You. Out. Now." The 'now' was said with such bite that everyone else in the cabin stopped to look between Gail and Nick. "I don't care how buddy, buddy you all want to be outside of this room but I need at least one place I can escape your stupid face."

"Yeah, sure. No problem Gail." The fact that Nick smiled when he said that just pissed Gail off beyond all reason. He didn't get to be nice and understanding. Not after being a total jerk and ditching her. "See you guys tomorrow. Goodnight, Gail."

"I really hope a bear eats you, Nick," said Gail in a mockingly sweet voice as if that was just how she said goodnight.

"What the hell Gail!? Wait. Nick is that Nick? Like, the Nick that…" Dov was up and headed over to Gail. He was about to reach out as if to touch her arm but she pulled away and moved to her bunk fort, even more thankful that she had thought to make it earlier. She kicked her shoes off and headed into the safety of her dark corner.

"Shut your face, Epstein. Yes he's that Nick. Now drop it," snapped the blonde as she hid herself in her dark little corner. "Where's that sleeping bag you promised me?"

"Here. That was why I came over," said Dov. He picked up a sleeping bag by the door and tossed it over her stuff into her corner. Gail unzipped it into a giant comforter and buried herself under it. "You're welcome."

"Whatever." Gail's voice was almost muffled by the blanket but he heard her. She rolled over and pulled a charger out of her bag and plugged her phone into the socket she found in the corner. Dov went back to talking to Andy and Chloe. They were talking about why they wanted to be police officers. Or rather, Chloe was talking very fast and a lot about why she wanted to be a police officer. Gail could picture the other two idiots just smiling and hanging on every word.

In order to regain some sense of sanity, Gail pulled out her headphones and turned on some music. However, she found herself unable to actually sleep. She wondered what Holly was reading over in the corner and why she wasn't talking with the others. Maybe they hadn't included her. Well, that was just mean of them. Holly was way more interesting than any of them. Dov was Gail's friend and she still found Holly more interesting. Gail scooted half of her body onto the second mattress and scooted one of her bags to the side so she could look over at Holly across the room.

The brunette was deeply focused on whatever it was that she was reading. It certainly wasn't any magazine that Gail had ever seen so she figured it must be some science journal. Of course nerdy Holly would read science journals. However, try as she might, Gail found that she couldn't tear her eyes away from the other woman who seemed oblivious to the blonde being a creep from her franken-bunk hideaway.

Soon, Dov was saying goodnight to the women and Holly closed what she was reading to return the gesture. Gail watched her stretch as the door shut behind Dov, the sound of the lock clicking into place. The fabric on Holly's shirt pulled up and Gail almost choked as she saw the glint of body jewelry in the cabin's low light. She must had made some noise though because Holly was looking over at her now, catching her eyes watching her from between the bags. Gail quickly shoved her backpack into the open spot to block out the giant smile spreading across Holly's face.

"So, Holly, have you gotten to dissect any bodies yet? That just seems so cool. You know, terrible that they're dead but super interesting," asked Chloe from somewhere near the foot of Gail's bunk.

"I've gotten to sit in on some autopsies, yes. And it is pretty cool in the scientifically fascinating sense of the word," laughed Holly.

"Medical school must be really tough though. I mean, all I have to go on is what I see in TV dramas but it seems like you guys aren't left with much of a life," said Andy. Gail wondered if Andy realized how rude she sounded.

"Yeah, it's a lot of studying and a lot of hands-on work. There's a big learning curve between books and actual people." Compared to how Holly sounded talking to Gail earlier, the future doctor didn't actually sound all that interested in this conversation. Maybe that was just Gail wanting Holly to find her more interesting than those two dingbats though. Gail wouldn't put it passed herself.

"So, do you have time for dating and stuff? Like, do you have a boyfriend back at school? Some tall dark doctor with a steamy future in neurology or something," asked Chloe. From the sounds of it, all the other women in the room were getting ready for bed and true to that thought the lights in the room clicked off leaving the only light in the room coming from the moonlight outside.

"Shockingly enough my last ex actually was going into neurology, but I don't know if I'd describe her as tall, dark, or steamy," said Holly and Gail was fairly certain her heart stopped beating for a moment. "She was more short, loud, and obnoxiously uptight. Even for a med student."

"Ugh, sounds terrible. No wonder you said ex," laughed Andy. Chloe also laughed. And for a moment Gail was absolutely stumped by what was happening in this room. Not only had Holly just casually made it clear that she wasn't straight but Andy and Chloe weren't even batting an eye about it. Gail stopped herself and realized that was actually a good thing. It didn't matter if Holly was gay or bisexual or whatever, right? No, it really didn't. Holly was still the coolest person she'd ever met and it wasn't like Gail hadn't known any gay people before.

After Gail calmed herself down from her momentary straight panic, she realized the cabin was silent except for light breathing. She flipped the blanket off her head and moved to change the music on her phone. Looking up passed her phone she saw Holly leaning on her bags, looking down at her. Gail almost jumped out of her skin and Holly quietly chuckled at the reaction. Then the brunette was snatching Gail's phone out of her hand and typing something into it. When Holly handed her phone back, Gail was too busy propping herself up to watch the other woman head back to her own bunk to notice what she'd done to her phone. Once Holly was lying down and wrapped up in her own sleeping bag, Gail looked down to see a new phone number illuminated back at her.

"Creep," texted Gail.

"Says the one staring at me earlier from her weird little bat cave," replied Holly.

"You wish I'd let you in my bat cave." Gail laughed when she heard Holly snort from over in her corner. Then, with a quick change of music, Gail was slipping off to sleep with a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

The next day, Gail woke up with Chloe and Andy and headed to breakfast, shuffling after them like a zombie. It was early. So early that it was actually still dark. Camp staff were apparently supposed to get up and get ready before any of the kids, another thing Dov had failed to mention to Gail. As she made her way inside the cafeteria she headed straight for the coffee, ignoring the offer from the other woman to sit with them. She knew Nick would make an appearance again and wanted to avoid him at all costs. Taking a sip of her coffee she suddenly wished she was home again with her fancy espresso machine. This was the worst coffee she'd ever tasted. The phone in her pocket went off, pulling her away from the awful drink in her hands.

"Picnic table in 5. Bring muffins." Gail found herself smiling at the screen before shoving it in her pocket and heading off toward the muffins. They actually had a decent variety of breakfast foods and Gail wrapped what looked good and stuffed it in the pockets of the loose cardigan she had thrown on to fight the morning chill. Heading out the side doors she made her way to the picnic table and waited, resting her back against the table and leaning her head back. She had obviously succeeded in becoming friends with Holly and this made Gail pretty proud of herself.

"Good morning sunshine," said Holly as she walked up to the table from the direction of the parking lot. She walked with her hands behind her back. Gail grumbled and narrowed her eyes. She might like Holly but she still hated mornings. She also wanted to know what was behind her. "Don't look so mean. I brought you a present."

With that, Holly pulled two coffees and two bags from behind her. She handed Gail a bag and a coffee which Gail cautiously took, looking from the food to the Holly as if maybe it was poisoned. She had threated to kill Holly yesterday. Maybe this was pay back.

"There's cream and sugar in the bag if you need it. And a donut." Holly sat down across from the blonde and pulled out her own donut.

"Holly..." Gail stared at the coffee and the bag before turning to look at her new friend.

"That's me." Holly looked at Gail with a very confused expression.

"Sorry," Gail shook her head. "Just not used to..."

"People being nice to you?" Holly finished her thought, sipping at her drink and watching Gail. "No biggie. You didn't look like much of a morning person. Figured you'd need the pick me up. Now where are my muffins woman? I need carbs."

The mention of carbs brought back memories of track and Gail actually looked at the other woman as she handed over the muffins. Holly was wearing running shoes, Lycra shorts, and a loose fitting Maple Leafs jersey top. She had her hair pulled back into a loose pony tail and she was almost covered in sweat.

"Ew," muttered Gail. Not that she thought Holly was gross looking. She was fairly certain that Holly could never look bad. Gail just hated the idea of running as some sort of activity of leisure.

"Hmmm?" mumbled Holly through a mouthful of bread.

"Running. It's gross." Gail sipped at her delicious coffee.

"Well, we can't all eat junk food and magically maintain perfect bodies," laughed Holly.

"Get on my level," said Gail before taking a huge bite of the most delicious donut she'd ever tasted. "Wait. How did you run here with coffee?"

"I didn't. I have my car. I only drink terrible coffee during finals, when I'm at my most desperate." Holly finished off two more muffins and then sat looking at Gail, slowly savoring her drink.

"Oh. Lucky. About the car. Not the finals."

"Not as snarky in the morning, I see." Holly's smirk turned into a smile.

"I'm not actually awake yet. This is me sleepwalking. Talk to me again in an hour. I'll tease you about being a nerd or something." Gail finished her donut and started to fiddle with the coffee cup. She still couldn't believe that this woman had bought her coffee and a donut. Dov would buy her fries and stuff but usually after she made him do it. Gail had heard tales of friends buying other friends gifts but dragons seemed closer to being real than that junk.

"So, what's on your schedule for today?" asked Holly.

"I'm helping with…arts and crafts I think." Gail had requested as many assignments inside as possible. She had the type of skin that would just burn should she be left out in the sun too long without sunscreen. "You?"

"Nurse's station. That's pretty much me for most of the camp. I get to help with softball in the afternoons but otherwise my job is to bandage scrapes, provide ice packs, hand out Aloe Vera, and provide a place for the athletically disinclined to hide from physical activity." Holly laughed and Gail had a feeling that Holly laughed at her own jokes a lot. It was cute. Or something.

"Softball huh?" Gail was starting to feel awake and she could feel herself coming back from zombieland.

"Yeah," smirked Holly, like she knew were this was going. "I used to play softball."

"And you like girls," stated Gail. Holly narrowed her eyes but continued to smile. "Hmm…interesting."

"And why is that?"

"No reason," Gail finished off her coffee and started heading back to the cabin so she could collect her shower stuff. Holly was following her. Without looking over her shoulder she prepared for the outcome of her next few words. "So, whatcha planning on wearing today? A Flannel shirt and Doc Martins?"

With that, Gail ran as quickly as she could toward the bunkhouse with Holly following closely on her heels. Both women were laughing which was making it hard to breathe but they kept going until Gail finally reached the door and quickly moved inside before shutting it behind her. She heard Holly stop on the other side and try to catch her breath while she leaned back on the door and tried to do the same.

"I know where you sleep, Peck. Now let me in so I can shower. It'd be great to not smell today."

Gail figured that would be appropriate punishment for having the gall to look so flawless after running but she decided to play nice. The brunette did know where she slept after all. When Holly entered the room, she poked Gail under her ribs eliciting a jump and a squeak. Then both women gathered their stuff and headed to the showers before they'd be overrun by short, hormonal mirror hogs.

The bathroom stalls and showers were much cleaner than what Gail had expected with it being a summer camp but she was incredibly thankful for it. She had tried to convince her mother to lend her a car so she could drive home to shower. A few of the shower heads were already running and Gail could hear Chloe and Andy singing off key to some pop song.

In between the bathroom stalls and the shower cubicles was a thin room lined with benches and hooks on the walls above them. Holly stopped next to an empty hook and started pulling her clothes off. Gail immediately stared at the ground and almost tripped over Chloe's sneakers as she tried to make her way to a free hook away from everyone else's stuff. It's not that Gail was uncomfortable around other naked women there was just something about this one woman that seemed to send her mind on a one way trip to awkward-land with a layover in red-face-tropolis.

So, Gail hung back, slowly getting undressed while Holly headed into the shower area with a painfully short towel wrapped around her body. The blonde then managed to strut into the closest, empty shower stall she could find like she wasn't just acting like a teenage boy about a naked woman.

"Peck's don't show embarrassment," she told herself. "They cower in fear on the inside."

Gail showered as quickly as possible while the other women seemed to take their time. She had pulled on her mismatched underwear and pulled her camp shirt on by the time Andy, Chloe, and Holly appeared followed by two older women.

"Do other women just travel in packs?" wondered Gail. "Just shower and leave."

Pulling on her shorts and lacing up her boots she could feel herself almost running out of the changing room, making sure to stare at the ground while passing Holly. She told herself it was just envy. A feeling she was actually pretty accustomed too. Quickly doing her make up in one of the mirrors she headed back to the cabin and dropped off her stuff. Dov was jogging up to her when she walked back out onto the cabin's small porch.

"Hey, Doug wants to see you at the admin cabin. He says he needs you for something," huffed Dov, clearly out of breath. Gail brushed her fingers through her hair and pulled it all back to tie it in a messy bun as she headed off to find Doug.

"Hey there. Glad you're here." Doug clapped her on the shoulder and pulled her behind the counter when she walked in. "Emily here could do with an interpreter and I saw it say on your paperwork that you can sign."

Emily stood up from a chair and looked at Gail with narrowed eyes. Gail's cover was blown. No more eavesdropping for her.

"You can sign?" asked Emily.

"Nope. I just like flailing my hands about. It's super fun." Gail smiled to try and break the tension she could feel building after being caught from yesterday. "So, what do I need to do? Just follow Emily around in case she needs me?"

"Pretty much," said Doug with another hard clap on Gail's shoulder blade. She scowled but said nothing.

"Okay. So, where to first?" Emily continued glaring at her for a moment before walking out of the cabin with Gail on her heels.

"Shit," muttered Gail.

For the most part, Emily didn't need Gail except for when she wanted to talk to someone other than the Tim kid she had told Holly about the previous day. Tim, Gail noticed, didn't need anyone to help him because he was only partially deaf. He used hearing aids and lip reading to listen to people and could actually speak rather well. Emily pretty much ignored Gail for the first half of the day and as much as it bothered her it was also pretty nice. She got to know a couple of the other counselors.

Jack, who was running the creative learning session, was a pretty nice middle aged guy and let her participate in the activities. Morgan was one of the women she saw in the showers that morning and was in charge of the arts and crafts stuff. Gail was actually pretty proud of the cat she drew although Emily decided to dump glitter on it and then pretended to not know what Gail was signing at her. After managing to salvage her drawing, she decided she was done with participating at the moment.

Gail finally decided to just use this time to text Holly. Okay, so she might have wanted to before then but she had waited a few hours. That was a nice normal amount of time, right?

Gail: I'm pretty sure your niece hates me.

Nerd: Yeah. She kind of does. Haha.

Gail: Was I just supposed to interrupt you guys? 'Hey by the way, I know everything you're saying.'

Nerd: Eh. Okay so she doesn't HATE you. She's just upset she got caught saying you were cute. The embarrassment runs deep.

Gail: Pssssh. I don't care. I'm pretty hot. It's only natural that other women want me too.

Nerd: Modesty is a huge turn on of mine, better watch out.

Gail laughed and Emily glared over at her for a moment before turning back to whatever it was that she and Tim were making out of Popsicle sticks. It looked kind of like a Trojan horse but Gail didn't want to just assume that nerd ran in the family. She wanted to give the kid the benefit of the doubt. Then another message popped up.

Nerd: Just ask, Gail. I know you want to.

Gail stared at the text for a moment. Ever since the previous night she had wanted to ask Holly about her sexuality but instead she had done her usual roundabout way of doing things by just casually joking about it. She was a little upset and shocked that Holly had figured it out. Then Gail smirked at her own ability to be a smartass.

Gail: What's your favorite color?

Nerd: Lesbian.

Gail: That's not a color, Holly.

Nerd: Sure it is. It's comes right after the colors "I", "am", and "a".

Gail: Who taught you colors? You need to demand your money back.

Gail: And stop rolling your eyes at me.

Nerd: You can just ask next time. Instead of making your cute little jokes. Even if they ARE amusing.

Gail: There is something you should know about me, Holly. I'm going to make those jokes anyways. This is your chance to run.

Nerd: Blue.

Gail: What?

Nerd: My favorite color is blue.

Gail hadn't realized how she had been smiling absently at her phone until Emily lightly kicked her boot and nodded her head toward the door where kids were leaving to their next activity. It was the last thing before lunch but to Gail's dismay it involved being out in the sun. The kids ran around playing tag football while Gail sat under a tree, trying her best to avoid the sun.

It was almost time for lunch when Dov plopped down next to her in the shade. He was sweaty and breathing heavily and offered Gail a cold water which she gladly took.

"So, what's your special assignment?" he finally asked when he was able to catch his breath.

"I am Emily's interpreter. Although she doesn't like me very much so she just talks to Tim. But hey, if all I have to do this whole trip is hang around and draw pictures of cats, I'm okay with it," said Gail. "What has got you all smelly and gross?"

"Chloe and I have been running the laser tag games and man, kids love laser tag."

"Ugh. How can you stand her? She talks so much." groaned Gail. Remembering how she had been woken up by Chloe asking Andy about something that Gail had turned up her music to ignore.

"It's a bit much but hey, she's cute," shrugged Dov. "Hey, so are you actually going to eat lunch with us today? I get it, the whole Nick thing, but come on I'm your best buddy Dov."

"So, tell him to go away." Gail thought for a moment about Nick hanging out with Dov and the donut twins. "Has he…said anything about me?"

When Dov didn't answer right away Gail turned and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I mean…not really. Might have mentioned a thing or two. Maybe a couple of regrets."

"No. No Dov. No. The answer is just no. You've known him for like a day and you're already taking his side?" Gail wasn't entirely shocked. Nick was a charming son of a bitch. Though, it was still incredibly annoying that her friend would try and throw her under the bridge and actually be nice to the guy who dumped her.

"Hey, I'm not saying you should marry the guy." Gail glared at him in a way she only reserved for her mother. "I'm just saying that he's going to be here for a week and I'd really like to see my friend."

Gail didn't say anything she just turned her attention back to the preteens awkwardly groping each other to rip a flag off. Dov knew that was the sign to leave and wandered off toward the cafeteria.

Gail: Boys suck.

Nerd: Agreed. :)

Gail: You're no help.

Nerd: Never promised I would be. I am Holly Stewart, here to tease and hinder. Lunch at the picnic table? I have cheese puffs. I may be willing to share.

Gail: You certainly know the way into a girls' heart.

Gail laid on top of the picnic table and waited for Holly. She looked up into the leaves of the tree and thought about Dov's proposal. While she would love to hang out with him, wasn't it kind of messed up of him to expect her to just want to hang out with her ex-boyfriend? Gail pulled her aviators out of her pocket and put them on.

"I can think of at least four incredibly sexual things to say right now but I'll refrain out of respect for the newness of our friendship." Holly sat down near Gail's head and dropped a new book and her lunchbox down on the table. "I'm up to six now."

"Nerd. You probably have check lists for foreplay."

"And there goes the newness. Right out the window." Gail turned her head slightly to watch Holly through her shades. The brunette was smiling. How was it that Gail could throw out some of her best quips and still this woman stayed? Half of the crap she said to Holly would send Dov stomping off angrily and not talking to her for days.

"I'm pretty sure you're the one with brain damage."

"Okay, now I know we're not having the same conversation," said Holly, furrowing her brow. She closed her book and crossed her arms on the table to focus on the face in front of her. "Emily said she planned on ignoring you for the day but that can't be it…"

"The newness of our friendship dictates you get me drunk before I tell you about my ex." Holly smiled and pushed at Gail's shoulder. Then the brunette pulled out a bag of cheese puffs and carefully rested them on Gail's face, using the flat surface of the aviators for help. Even with all of the thoughts weighing on her mind, Gail couldn't help but smile. Holly's face while she was trying to balance the bag of junk food was too adorable.

It was weird but hanging out with Holly made Gail happy. It hadn't even been two days but Gail saw the difference between talking to other people and talking to Holly. Which was weird considering how pissed off she'd been at her the first time they met. Maybe all she needed to be happy was new friends.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: If anyone cares I was picturing Holly singing along to "Stupid Girl" by Cold but that could have just been because that's what I was listening to at the time. The world may never know. I do love the idea of Holly being a secret rocker chick though.

The first week of camp was almost over and since the first day, Gail Peck had not thought of calling her father once. It was great helping out with Emily because it saved her from a lot of time she would have probably spent in the sun otherwise. And lucky for Gail, she barely saw Nick at all that week. She had actually managed to dodge him for the most part except for the occasional puppy dog look from him across a field or in the cafeteria and she would either just glare or move Holly in front of his face so she couldn't see it. The best part though was that Emily had warmed up to her after their first day together and had already made a few new friends after letting Gail actually translate for her.

Friday, during free play for Emily's group, she actually found herself sitting at her favorite picnic table teaching a few simple signs to some of the kids who started hanging out with Emily and Tim. Tim's brother eventually ran up and invited the group to go hang out with his friends and watch a movie that was being set up in the cafeteria. Gail got up to follow until she spotted Holly walking across the grounds toward the fields behind the cabins. Emily spotted who she was looking and signed for Gail to go. The blonde narrowed her eyes at the kid who just shrugged and ran off smiling.

"Hey, nerd," called Gail as she tried to walk as casually as possible up to the other woman. It had been a constant struggle all week to not seem totally excited every time she saw Holly. Gail Peck wasn't good at rejection and she was just waiting for the day Holly would tell her to fuck off. She'd barely heard or seen Dov the past few days. He was obviously still very upset that Gail had feelings she wanted respected. The nerve of her.

"Hey…" Holly trailed off, trying to think of something to call Gail in response but she obviously had nothing. "Blondie? No, that's terrible. I need to think of a nickname for you."

"Champion of the World works," shrugged Gail.

"You don't get to pick it. I didn't pick nerd or lunchbox. Which by the way, is a very strange nickname." Holly smiled and shifted the bag she was carrying so the strap was across her chest.

"You always have that lunchbox with you. Makes perfect sense to me." Gail shot a sideways glance over at Holly. "It's probably in that bag you're carrying."

Holly said nothing but Gail saw her trying to fight a smile as she defiantly looked forward.

"So, where you headed? Off to rescue a small child from a tree or something?" Holly laughed and shook her head.

"You are insane, you know that right? Where do you even think up half the things you say?"

"My brain, duh. I thought you were in medical school." Gail rolled her eyes and smiled. Holly looked over at her, the way she sometimes did, like she was trying to read something written on Gail's face that she couldn't quite make out.

"I'm going where I go every afternoon. To help with softball," said Holly. Gail was glad the brunette was looking ahead again because every time she looked at her that way, the blonde could feel the heat rising in her cheeks and, more recently, her stomach.

"You are so gay." Holly laughed and shook her head.

"Funny, coming from the person wearing flannel and doc martins." Holly shot Gail a smirk, while looking her up and down.

For the first time that day, Gail actually looked at what she was wearing and registered that Holly was right. She was wearing a black tank top with a red flannel shirt over it and she always wore her boots. Gail grumbled to herself and shrugged while shoving her hands in her pockets. Seeing, Gail's pout, Holly lightly shoved Gail with her shoulder and smiled at her.

"It's okay, your secret is safe with me," joked Holly.

"What secret? Who has a secret?" Gail quickly went into defense mode and stopped walking. "No secrets over here. Just an open book. An open book of no secrets."

"You're right," said Holly as she turned to walk backwards so she could keep eye contact while heading toward a group of kids talking to Dov and Chloe. "It's not a secret."

"Wait." Gail's brow furrowed as she watched Holly turn back around to face the group. She pulled off the bag and set it down, opening it to pull out a bunch of softball equipment. Gail jogged over to Holly, now surrounded by kids, and pulled her by the shoulder to look at her. Holly was just smiling. "What's not a secret?"

"Hey Gail! Are you going to play some softball with us? Holly's been a great teacher. I can actually hit the ball now." Chloe was already jumping between them and Gail glared at Holly and her big toothy, beautiful smile.

"Uh. I don't really do sports," muttered Gail, actually looking at the bouncy red head finally.

"It's not going to kill you to try something new," said Holly with that smirk that Gail hated. Hated because she just wanted to wipe it off her face and she could only really think of so many ways to do that.

"Can Casper even hold a bat?" asked Dov, no hint of a joke. The smirk was gone from Holly's face, replaced by something Gail couldn't quite place. Annoyance? Kind of like when she interrupted her reading on the first day. A couple of the teens laughed at the Casper joke and Gail scowled.

Even though Gail knew she wasn't going to play, she decided to stay and watch since Emily was probably still watching the movie. There wasn't anywhere shady to sit but Gail figured with the amount of sunscreen she'd put on that morning that she'd be okay. She took off her over shirt and sat down on it in the grass behind the fence thing where the batters stood. A couple of the less athletic kids sat down near her.

Watching Dov suck at softball made her feel better about his snide comment and it was actually kind of cute the way Chloe would get excited every time she managed to hit the ball. The kids were all laughing and having fun, even the ones sitting out were still enjoying themselves. Gail couldn't help but feel like a lot of it was because of Holly. The woman was so genuinely nice and comforting. She didn't make anyone feel bad for messing up or forgetting the rules. She would just smile and then help them.

"Maybe that's why I'm always so happy around her," thought Gail. "She seems to just make everyone feel pretty good about themselves. What is this bizarre witchcraft?"

Holly spotted Gail staring at her with what she assumed was a very serious look because Holly immediately crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. Gail laughed and shook her head. What a dork.

The way they worked the teams was that there was one counselor per team and then Holly would actually bat once for each team. The first time Holly went up to bat, Gail had to actually stop herself from leering. Between the shorts and tank top, watching the way Holly's muscles worked when she swung the bat was almost mesmerizing. And it made Gail uncomfortable how much she wanted to keep watching her. Not bad uncomfortable. Just uncomfortable.

As everyone started heading back toward the buildings, Holly stayed behind to pick up all the equipment and Gail stayed for Holly. Gail watched Holly pick up her bag and look inside of it with a confused look. Then the brunette was looking up at her and narrowing her eyes.

"Where's my lunchbox?"

"What lunchbox?" Gail tried to look as innocent as possible while moving the red bag further behind her. "Oh, you mean the one you definitely don't carry everywhere with you? The one that is totally missing a bag of pretzels now? That lunchbox?"

Holly just rolled her eyes and started picking up the equipment where most of the kids had just thrown it at the bag while running off with their friends. When she picked up a helmet she stopped and looked over at Gail with what could only be described as a mischievous look.

"Come on, you're going to hit a ball." The brunette started walking toward Gail holding the helmet out.

"Unless it's attached to Nick or Dov, I'm okay." Gail reached out a hand to push the helmet away from her but Holly grabbed it and quickly pulled her to her feet. It was actually shocking how strong Holly was. Just as shocking as how close she was to Holly's face. Gail stepped back quickly.

"Come on. Consider it pay back for my pretzels."

"What? But they weren't even that good," whined Gail.

"So, why'd you eat them?" Holly moved forward, back into Gail's space and plopped the helmet down on the blonde's head.

"I'm a human garbage disposal, Holly. If it's edible I will eat it. Hell, there's been a couple of times I've broken even that rule. I was drunk but still…"

Holly laughed and picked up a bat. She handed it to Gail who found herself being led into the little fenced in area next to the plate despite all her protesting. Holly grabbed a softball and moved to the pitcher's mound, that damn smirk back on her face. Gail tried to stand the way she'd watched Holly stand all day and pulled the bat back over her shoulder.

"Ready?" asked Holly.

"No." Holly tossed the ball and Gail found herself jumping out of the way and throwing the bat across the ground while screaming.

Holly started laughing first and Gail found herself laughing just because the other woman was. It was weird for Gail. Being so embarrassed in front of someone but just laughing about it. Especially since Holly was laughing at her but it wasn't malicious or out of pity. It was just laughter at having witnessed someone throw a bat a softball.

"Okay, so maybe we should hold off on that until I can get you in a batting cage," said Holly was trying to catch her breath from doubling over laughing. "I don't really want to be hit by a bat, you know?"

They finished picking up all the equipment and Gail actually found herself throwing the bag over her shoulder while Holly grabbed her lunchbox and Gail's shirt off the ground. Normally, Gail would never help anyone with anything involving physical exertion but with Holly she found herself doing a lot of things she normally never would. Which the other woman must have noticed because she smiled at Gail when she went to adjust the strap.

"What? I just feel bad for almost killing you with a baseball bat," huffed Gail as they walked back toward the cabins.

When they were back at the bunkhouse, Chloe and Andy were already there getting ready to go to help herd children toward dinner. Holly grabbed the bag from Gail and situated it under her bunk. She pulled the hair tie out of her hair and brushed her hair out with her fingers. Gail found herself watching her before turning to pull her headphones out of her bag.

"Andy, you should totally come play softball with us next time," said Chloe while pulling on a pair of pants. "That way Holly can just be on my team and my team can finally beat Dov's."

"Maybe on Monday. It definitely sounds like fun."

Holly plopped down on her bed and started reading from one of her, apparently infinite amount of, books. Gail pulled her bags off the first bed of her cave and shoved them underneath the bunk so she could sit down. She pulled a magazine about handguns out of her bag and started looking through the pages.

"So, what were you up to that you told me was so important?" asked Chloe, now sitting on her own bed and looked like an excited Chihuahua.

"Oh, Nick had asked me to help him out with the kids who were swimming. Apparently they really love trying to drown each other," said Andy absentmindedly before realizing what she said and glancing over at Gail. The blonde had her headphones on and even though she hadn't actually started playing any music yet, her lack of response at the mention of Nick seemed to give Andy relief. "He's pretty cool so I wanted to hang out with him since he's leaving Sunday night."

"Yeah, he seems really cool. Hey Andy, let's head to down early. Maybe we can actually get some dessert this time," said Chloe, throwing a glance over at Gail. They probably wanted to keep talking about boys. Gail was more than happy for them to leave to do that. "You coming, Holly?"

Holly shook her head and then a few moments later they were gone, giggling about something. Gail flipped through a few more pages of her magazine, not really taking in anything she was looking at. Except maybe the thought that she'd love to shoot Nick in the leg with every single gun she saw. Quickly looking over at Holly she found brown eyes already watching her. Instead of trying to hide being caught though, Holly just looked over Gail before turning her eyes back to her book.

"Do you think anyone would miss us for a few hours?" asked Gail while staring intently at a magazine clip that was on sale.

"Do you mean that existentially or…?" Holly closed her book and put her hands behind her head.

"Take me somewhere with alcohol. Anywhere. I'll pay." said Gail. "Consider it pay back for letting me almost kill you with a baseball bat."

"Okay. Get changed and meet me in the parking lot."

"Changed?" Where did Holly plan on taking her?

"Even if we go to the trashiest bar nearby, I will not be seen with you in that shirt," laughed Holly. She grabbed a bag from under the bunk and headed out the door.

Gail quickly pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and a black low cut top before tossing her favorite leather jacket on over it. She moved to the mirror on the wall in the corner and brushed out her hair with her fingers and fixed her make up. Even if they did actually end up in a shitty dive bar, Gail Peck was going to look her best.

When she made it to the parking lot, a car was already pulled up along the curb near the admin building. The door popped open to reveal Holly leaned over to the passenger side.

"Hey, cutie. Wanna go for a spin?" Gail smirked but dropped herself into the seat all the same.

"You must really be a hit with the ladies," quipped Gail.

"Just the ones that matter," replied Holly. She pulled out of the parking lot and started down the road to leave the woods. "Believe it or not, I prefer studying to partying. Give me a good bottle of wine and a good book any night."

"And yet here you are, indulging my need to become publicly intoxicated," said Gail. It was actually quite strange that Holly would be so willing to take Gail out when she could be back in the cabin, nose buried in a book, pushing her glasses up every once in a while and eating rabbit food out of little baggies from her lunchbox. Not that Gail paid any attention to what Holly did.

"What can I say, I'm learning new things," said Holly with a smile.

Gail suddenly felt very nervous but she couldn't figure out why. There was a knot in her stomach. Maybe it was just because of hearing Andy talk about Nick. To distract herself she started playing with Holly's radio. The stations all seemed to be classic and alternative rock.

"Huh, pegged you more as the classical type. A bunch of old white guys playing piano." Gail flipped to the CDs and waited for them to load. Maybe it was because she was never allowed to play with the radio with her parents but she couldn't help it when she was in a friend's car.

"Wow, thanks. I like to think I'm not that boring," said Holly with mock hurt in her tone.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Holls."

Gail didn't recognize the song that started playing but she liked it so she left it on as she looked back out the front window and watched the headlights on the ground that was slowly growing darker as the sun dipped lower in the sky. Holly started singing along and it made Gail laugh.

"Finally, something you're not good at," said Gail with a smirk. "I was beginning to think you were a robot. Smart, athletic, beautiful…it was all just so rude. But now I know the secret. Holly Stewart can't sing to save her life."

Holly just laughed and shook her head while continuing to sing along. When they pulled up outside a decent looking restaurant Gail shot Holly a puzzled expression.

"I thought we were going to a bar."

"No, you assumed we were. You actually said I could take you anywhere. Well, I'm hungry and this place sells alcohol. We both win." Holly turned off the ignition and got out of the car. When Gail finally removed herself from the vehicle she looked over at Holly and noticed in the light of the restaurant that the other woman had showered and changed. She had on blue jeans that hugged her legs in all the right places, a button up shirt that wasn't as buttoned as it could be with a low top on underneath, a cardigan, and a pair of worn out Chuck Taylors. Smirking at the blonde's inability to hide her staring, Holly motioned to the doors. "And even though you're paying, Peck, don't get any ideas. I don't put out on the first date."

"Pfft. If this were a date I'd be wearing something might tighter with a pair of 'fuck me' heels," quipped Gail, pulling herself from her daze and walking passed Holly into the establishment. For a second, Holly looked like she was picturing it before just smirking and following Gail out of the growing chill.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: I wrote most of this between flights and then while having a tea party with my niece. Best aunt ever. Right here.

The hostess sat them in a couple's booth near the bar. Gail found herself glancing around for exits, fire alarms, and extinguishers. At this point in her life it was a horrible force of habit that seemed to just run on autopilot. Holly however had crossed her legs and was looking over the menu, pausing to push her glasses up her nose. The restaurant wasn't too busy for a Friday night and Gail realized why when she looked at the prices.

"Hey, just because I said I'd pay doesn't mean you can run up the bill," said Gail, narrowing her eyes at Holly who just laughed without looking up.

"All joking aside, I'm not actually going to let you pay for me."

"Oh," muttered Gail. She felt a lot better about the prices but wondered why Holly refused her offer. Maybe it would make things too weird. Maybe that's how lesbians were with their female friends. Didn't want to send mixed signals or something. And it wasn't like she couldn't afford to pay for both of them. She could and then some, she just liked being a brat about paying for people. Didn't want people to expect such nice gestures from her. Except now Gail was wondering how Holly could afford to eat here. "Do you work?"

"Nope," said Holly with a pop. "I worked for awhile but now I just focus on school work. My mom tends to send me money randomly and since I don't go out a lot I have quite a bit saved up."

"That's pretty cool." Gail didn't know why but she found herself acting a little off. For some reason she just couldn't connect to her usual wit. Holly must have noticed because she was looking at her over the menu with a worried expression.

Lucky for Gail, the waitress walked up just at that moment to take their orders. Gail got a whisky coke and ordered a burger and fries and Holly ordered a glass of wine and some fancy salad thing. That's when Gail realized what was throwing her off. She was hanging out with Holly outside of the camp. She was seeing Holly, Holly. Not just the witty woman who sat in the nurse's office and helped kids hit balls with sticks. And she was realizing how much different Holly Stewart was from Gail Peck.

"How are we friends?" Gail didn't actually mean to ask that out loud and blushed and looked down at her hands whens he noticed she had. Holly didn't answer though and this made Gail chance a glance back up at her. Warm brown eyes met her own and a smile crept across Holly's face.

"You make for an interesting distraction," shrugged Holly with a teasing smile. Gail furrowed her brow. Was that all she was? "Kidding, Gail. I don't know. You're fun to talk to and I like your company. However, I can't tell you why you hang around me. You have to answer that."

"True," mumbled Gail as the waitress reappeared with their drinks.

"Why so serious, all of a sudden? Is it because of the whole Nick thing?" Holly uncrossed her legs and stretched them out under the table, playfully nudging Gail's legs with her feet.

"I don't know. Maybe." Gail practically downed her drink in one mouthful and motioned to the waitress so she could get another. "Playing footsie with me, huh?"

Holly rolled her eyes but didn't move her feet and they rested against the blonde's legs. The two of them sat mostly in silence, just enjoying their drinks and the company, until they had finished their meals and the dishes had been taken away. Gail was feeling a lot better and was on her fifth drink while Holly was sipping at a glass of water when the waitress brought the check to the table. Before Gail could even react, Holly had grabbed the check and handed the woman her card.

"Hey. I was gonna pay my half," said Gail. Holly almost laughed because she sounded so sad. "So, wait. I can't pay for you but you get to pay for me. That makes no sense."

"You can get it next time." Gail smiled at the promise of another outing with Holly. It was probably the liquor finally getting to her but the knot in her stomach was gone and she was just glad to be out with her new friend.

"So, what does you mom do?" asked Gail sipping at the last of her drink. She found herself wanting to learn more about Holly especially after realizing how different they actually were.

"She's a neurosurgeon."

"Why do you want to do forensics? I mean, you've gotta be pretty smart, the way you constantly hide your beautiful face behind textbooks. You could be anything. A neurosurgeon. A mad scientist. A gynecologist." Gail wiggled her eyebrows at Holly with the last suggestion not realizing the slip she had actually made about her opinions on the other woman's face. Holly just rolled her eyes and laughed. "Why dead people?"

"Believe it or not, I am terrible at talking to people." Gail laughed because she didn't believe it but she let Holly keep talking. "I love studying medicine but I take deaths too personally. You can't do that as a doctor working with living people because deaths are just a terrible reality of the job. But with dead people, not only is it impossible to kill them, but it's just about the science. It's still hard but in a different way. A way I'm much better at handling."

Holly paused for a moment then smiled. "And I think that gynecology might ruin my love for lady parts. I've taken classes. I've seen terrible things. Mad scientist sounds pretty fun though."

"I'm sure there's some website you can submit your resume to for the mad scientist thing. You should Google it later," mused Gail before becoming incredibly excited at a new idea. "Oh man, working at a morgue would be the perfect cover for a mad scientist. You could use the bodies to start your own zombie army or harvest parts of them to make some sort of Frankenstein creation."

The way Holly laughed at Gail's rambling made her smile and she realized one of the reasons she loved hanging out with Holly so much.

"I like making you laugh," said Gail watching Holly try to catch her breath.

When Holly registered what Gail said, she looked over at her before shaking her head and Gail could swear she saw a flush of red under tan cheeks. Holly excused herself to the bathroom and, at the loss of contact, Gail realized that their legs had become much more tangled than when Holly first kicked at her. She tried to tell herself it was just the alcohol but the knot in her stomach was back. Holly came back from the bathroom and pushed her water across the table at Gail, who was just staring at her now empty glass.

"Drink that and we can go." Instead of arguing for being babied, like she normally would, Gail listened and finished off Holly's water.

They got in the car and Gail started playing with the radio again, looking for one of her own stations. Holly just let her as she made her way though the dark back to the campground. Gail managed to find a stations playing one of her favorite Niki Minaj songs and started rapping along to it causing Holly to laugh again.

It was almost midnight when Gail tripped up the stairs to their dark bunkhouse. She braced herself against the door and turned to her completely sober companion with a finger over her lips as if to tell Holly to stop making so much noise. Holly smiled at the drunken blonde and crossed her arms over her chest. She wanted to see Gail get the door open.

The room was dark and Gail could just make out the shapes of their bunkmates sleeping in their beds. As Gail tried to shut the door as quietly as possible, Holly moved to her bed and changed her pants for a pair of shorts and just stripped down to her undershirt. Before she could climb into her own sleeping bag though, Gail was pulling her toward the Gail cave.

With the moonlight, Gail could just make out a very confused look. She moved her finger to her lips again and dragged Holly into her bunk fort. Gail grabbed her duffle bag of clothes and threw it behind where the brunette was sitting watching her. It would make a pretty nice makeshift pillow. Hanging a towel over the entrance to the bunks, Gail climbed over Holly to sit on the inside, pushed Holly to lie back against the bag pillow, and pulled her laptop out of her backpack.

"Gail, what are you…?" whispered Holly before being silenced by Gail's hand over her mouth. As Gail pulled her hand away she found herself absently running her thumb across Holly's lips and staring. She shook her head and went back to what she was doing, telling herself that her fascination with Holly was just because she had never had a friend like her before.

Gail plugged her earphones into the laptop, flipped it open in Holly's lap, and lied down against the duffle pillow with her friend, snuggling into her side. Alcohol always made Gail cuddlier and she wanted to show Holly a movie she thought of during dinner. Turning slightly, Gail ran her fingers through Holly's hair so she could share her ear buds with her. Even through the haze of the alcohol Gail distinctly made out the heat of Holly's skin and the small sigh that escaped her lips. However she was soon distracted by the stifled laugh as "Young Frankenstein" began playing.

Trying to push the knot from her stomach, Gail cuddled into Holly's side and rested her head against the other woman's shoulder. It wasn't long before she was drifting off to sleep, Holly's fingers lightly tracing shapes into her palm. In the fog of whiskey induced sleep, Gail realized what the knot in her stomach was and she silently hoped she wouldn't remember it in the morning.

Note: It was pointed out that the last line is kind of sad. Don't worry. It's just Gail freaking out. There won't be much sad in this. Promise.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: Thank you for all the love and support. It really does sustain me.

In the morning, Gail rolled over towards where Holly had been the previous night but only found an empty spot. She opens her eyes, partially disappointed and partially relieved, to find nothing but a bottle of water and a note. Despite her drunken plea to the heavens Gail remembered exactly why she kept getting a knot in her stomach when she was around Holly. The brunette had gotten under her skin in a much more than friend kind of way and that was throwing Gail for a huge loop. Trying to avoid thinking about it, Gail looked at the note.

"As cute as you are when you sleep, I needed to go for my run. -H" Gail stared at the note for a second before folding it up and shoving it in her backpack. She told herself it was just to properly dispose of it later. She seemed to be telling herself a lot of lies about Holly lately. But it was comforting to know that Holly hadn't just ditched her as soon as she fell asleep. Though that also meant that Holly had stayed with her all night with Gail probably cuddling her the whole time. Cursing herself she decided to just get up early and shower before anyone else got there.

One of the showers was already running and Gail wondered if one of the older staff were already there. The older women tended to shower earlier than her bunkmates. Gail figured it was just envy. When Gail heard a soft thumping on glass, she became more cautious and curious and slowly headed toward the noise looking around her as she moved forward. When she moved into the shower area, she looked down the first row of showers and figured out the thumping was coming from the shower stall that was in use.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." Each utterance was followed by a thud and Gail realized it was Holly muttering and, from the sound of it, banging her head on the glass of the stall.

"Holly?" A squeak, a slip, and a louder thud later and Holly's head popped out of the only closed curtain to squint at Gail. "You okay?"

Gail had never seen Holly so flustered. She was usually so in charge and level headed. It was a trait that Gail figured she was just jealous of until this morning. Now she knew it was because it was one of the things that made Holly so attractive. At the moment, though, the poor woman was looking almost like a lost little girl. It was endearing and heartbreaking at the same time.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm good. Good morning. Hope your head isn't hurting," said Holly going back to her shower.

"Nope. Probably all that water you forced me to drink." Gail smiled for a moment. Until she her lips moved back to a frown. Holly was acting really weird. Almost like how Gail had been acting last night at the restaurant.

The rest of the time in the shower was in silence except for a very timid "see you at lunch" from Holly as she left. It sounded more like a question than a statement. Had Gail freaked her out with all the closeness? It did tend to throw people for a loop when she suddenly got touchy feely after drinking. She had almost given Dov a heart attack the first time they drank together and she kissed him on the cheek after he paid off her tab.

That was probably all it was. Holly would be fine by lunch. Right?

Gail got dressed and headed to breakfast. Instead of heading to the picnic table where she would just eat alone when Holly didn't bring her coffee, she headed over to plop down on a bench next to Dov. She figured he had suffered from her absence long enough.

"Finally gracing me with your presence?" He asked without looking up. She could hear the hurt in his voice and she rolled her eyes.

"I needed you to miss me so you could appreciate me again," joked Gail.

Chloe, Andy, and Nick sat down before realizing that Gail was sitting there on the other side of Dov. When Nick saw her he glanced over at Andy and then started to get up.

"Oh sit down Collins and grow a pair." Nick smiled his big doofy puppy smile as he sat back down and Gail rolled her eyes. They had started as friends while Gail had been waitressing to piss off her mother and even though she was still mad at him something about this week made her realize she was being petty as hell about his being there. It was keeping her from hanging out with people she would have otherwise beared to be around.

"So. Who's super excited about tonight!?" Chloe was obviously very good at breaking the silence. "I, for one, love camping and I was talking to some of the kids who have been here before and they said that the tent parties are their favorite."

"I think it will be great. Campfire stories and smores...and Doug was telling me about the pranks they usually play on the new campers," said Andy, looking just as excited as Chloe.

"Tent party? Camping?" Gail looked over at Dov for an explanation. This sounded like the beginning of something Dov had told her on the first day while her head was pounding and she couldn't be bothered to listen to him.

"Yeah Gail I've mentioned it multiple times. I even brought an extra tent for you." Said Dov completely deadpan like he had expected her to forget and was waiting for this. "I'd have given you more warning but you decided to avoid me like a plague."

"It wasn't you I was avoiding." Gail threw a shit-eating grin at Nick who just laughed.

"So what is this thing and why does it sound like something I want to avoid?"

"There are two tent parties per summer. One on the first weekend and one on the last. It's a chance for the kids to go camping and do all the fun camping stuff like ghost stories and pranks and junk food," said Dov.

"While I do love pranks and junk food, I'm not really big on being eaten by a bear." Gail finished her food and tossed her tray toward Nick. He looked from it to her and just shook his head while smiling before putting it under his own tray. If Gail didn't know any better, she could have sworn that Andy was glaring at her. That warmed her heart slightly.

"Gail, there's no bears," laughed Chloe.

"So you say..." muttered Gail. "Do you personally know the bears to know all of their locations? Are you friends with the bears, Chloe?"

The group laughed and Gail actually found herself smirking. These idiots weren't so bad to hang out with.

"Besides Gail," said Dov. "It is customary for the adults to sneak alcohol and party when the kids aren't looking."

"I am slightly more interested."

"Knew you would be," said Dov with a smile. "Chloe and I have got the beer and I was able to convince Holly to go buy tequila by telling her it was your favorite."

Gail looked over at Dov at the mention of Holly and a genuine smile crossed her face. Sounded like Holly didn't want to help them break the rules until Gail was mentioned. Which sounded very Holly like because the brunette didn't tend to talk to the rest of the counselors unless they started the conversation and she certainly didn't seem like a super rebellious rule breaker.

As kids started to filter in to the cafeteria doors, the gang started to get up and disperse to help direct the small beasts to the food. Gail spotted Emily enter the building with Tim and headed over to her young ward. She had an idea and she just hoped her brother would be nice enough to indulge her with the right amount of bribing.

"Hey Emily I got a question for you," signed Gail after grabbing the girl's attention.

"Good morning sunshine," signed Emily. It was a nickname she chose for Gail because of her sour disposition and blonde hair. "What's your question?"

"I know you're only 12 but would you happen to know your aunt's favorite kind of wine?" Emily laughed and shook her head but she held a finger up to indicate she needed a second and pulled out her phone to text someone. Gail tapped her shoulder.

"Hey don't tell Holly I asked."

"I'm asking my mom, sunshine," signed Emily with a smile.

Gail sat down with Emily and Tim after they grabbed their food and Emily checked her phone once they were sitting. A few more texts later and Emily forwarded the answer to Gail who sent it to her brother asking him to bring her a bottle in exchange for a favor to be determined before delivery of the package. A few minutes later her phone was ringing. It was Steve and Gail moved outside to answer it away from the din of the cafeteria.

"Hey," said Gail.

"And what, pray tell me little sister, do you need this wine for?" Steve's smarmy attitude came through the line and Gail was already regretting life.

"A friend," huffed Gail.

"Oooo. A friend? Or a friend, friend?"

"Don't know. Look, can you bring me the wine or not. I'm willing to do almost anything for it." It shouldn't be this hard to get wine.

"I dunno, Gail. That's a pretty expensive bottle…"

"What do you want for it?" She could tell this was going to cost her.

"Mom won't leave me alone about you coming to some white shirt's wedding. So, you have to tell her you'll go so she'll leave me alone." Gail groaned but thought about it and quickly agreed. Trying to impress Holly was worth a night of lecherous old drunk men and she could always abuse the open bar it was sure to have.

It wasn't that Gail just assumed that Holly was interested in her because she was a lesbian. It was more that Gail just wanted Holly to be interested in her. Even if it was just some dumb misplaced crush on a friend, Gail actually felt the need to impress this woman. She wanted Holly to want to stay friends with her. And the way she had been acting this morning had her worried she was losing her friend.

"You call mom now and tell her and the bottle is yours no questions asked," said Steve, ignoring Gail's awkward silence.

"How will you know?" Gail was skeptical.

"Oh, mom will tell me. I'm one of the only people that actually picks up her calls for this trivial crap," laughed her brother.

"Fine. It's done." Gail hung up and immediately texted her mother that she would go to the wedding. It was probably one of the fastest replies she had gotten from her mother in ages. An excited message about how they needed to get her a dress and to do something with Gail's hair. As annoying as it was, Gail had to admit that her roots could use a touch up.

A few moments later and Steve told her he'd meet her at the admin building around two in the afternoon.

Gail sighed and leaned against the building behind her. She had no idea what she was doing. This was very unlike Gail Peck, to actually chase a friend. Chasing someone was pretty much the equivalent of pleading and pleading showed weakness and weakness was not an acceptable Peck trait. Yet, here Gail was, making deals with the devil for a bottle of wine that may or may not work in slightly impressing a woman who Gail may or may not have a crush on. What was looking for? Just friends? More? And Gail found herself lying about Holly in her head again, telling herself it was perfect acceptable to want to make out with your friends.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: This chapter's author's note is a bit long so it's at the bottom.

Close to noon, Holly sent Gail a text explaining that she couldn't meet her for lunch because she had to help pack up the spare tents, her own stuff, and an emergency first aid kit for the tent party. This left Gail a little miserable so she decided to follow Dov and Chloe around. At least watching those two flirt like five years olds was entertaining enough for a few laughs. It was even better because every time she did laugh at them they would both glare at her which just made her laugh harder.

She had missed talking to Dov. As distracted as the lanky guy could get, he could be pretty fun to hang out with. And, though she would never tell her, Chloe wasn't so bad once you got passed the constant happy that flowed from her. It at least made the blonde's special brand of personality seem more unique in Gail's eyes.

When lunch was over, she went back to following Emily. The kids were painting the sculptures that they made the day before and were baked over night. Gail was painting the little cat sculpture she had made and was debating on what colors to use for the small skeleton sculpture she had made Holly. Emily kept smirking at her during the whole activity and Gail would just narrow her eyes and ask what she was staring at. Emily kept shaking her head and saying nothing.

Fifteen minutes before she was supposed to meet Steve, Gail headed over to the parking lot. She told Emily she would find her when she was done and Emily just smiled and shooed her away. That girl was as weird as her aunt. Maybe everyone in Holly's family was just weird. Like some sort of family full of weird ass genes. She sat down on the stairs to the admin building and pulled out her phone to play Angry Birds. Steve pulled up a little after 2 and Gail walked up to his car as he rolled the passenger side window down.

"I got the stuff. You got the money?" joked Steve in his best dealer impression.

"Are you even allowed to joke about that kind of crap?" wondered Gail. "What if someone heard you? Aren't you trying for guns and gangs soon?"

"Calm down baby sister. Your big bro is a shoe in for the next guns and gangs opening. What can I say? They love me," laughed Steve as he handed her the paper bag with the bottle of wine in it.

"Really? I'm at a summer camp. You couldn't have brought this in something a little less suspicious?" Gail rolled her eyes. "Tell me again how you're a shoe in to work with dangerous people with guns when you can't even smuggle your sister wine properly."

Steve looked around his car before quickly pulling a police issue bag out of his back seat and shoving it toward her.

"Tada! All fixed. So, come on, who's the bottle for? You can't stand wine that doesn't taste like alcoholic grape juice."

"Hey, what happened to no questions asked?" Gail really didn't feel like telling Steve anything about Holly.

"I'm your brother. I obviously lied," laughed Steve while sitting back in his seat to look more closely at his sister.

At that moment, Gail spotted Holly carrying a tent bag and cooler from her car and even though the woman looked like she was more than capable of carrying it all herself, Gail saw it as the perfect opportunity to get away from her brother.

"Hey, Holly. You need some help with that?" Holly stopped when she heard Gail and started to head over to Steve's car. "I mean, it looks really heavy. I should totally be the awesome friend I am and help right?"

Holly looked from Gail to Steve sitting in the car with a confused look on her face. The blonde quickly put on her best "save me" face and Holly smiled as she set the cooler down to jokingly hold her back and moan.

"Yep. Too heavy for me. I could really use some help here Gail," laughed Holly.

"Oh no, Steve. Holly needs me. I have to go. Sorry. Super important." Gail threw the duffle strap over her shoulder and backed away from the car toward Holly. "I'll talk to you later okay? Like, super later. If you think it hasn't been later enough yet, you would be wrong. Much later than that."

Gail went to pick up the cooler and realized it was empty the second she started to lift it but was quick to pretend like it was super heavy for Steve, who she knew was still watching her. She turned and made a super strained face for show and saw him just sitting there with a look on his face that told her he was very suspicious of her.

"Brother?" asked Holly as Gail followed her around the building to the nurse's office with the cooler.

"How can you tell?" But Holly didn't answer. She just smiled. It seemed like whatever was bothering Holly this morning had smoothed over and everything was normal between them again. That made Gail feel a little better about not seeing Holly all morning. She really didn't want to lose Holly as a friend. Not when she was the best friend Gail ever had.

"So…" Holly smirked before glancing back at Gail's hair then to Gail's face.

"I'm not a ginger if that's what you're going to ask." Holly just nodded and smiled as she unlocked the door to the office and motioned Gail to go inside. "Born blonde. Just a darker blonde."

When Gail had dropped the cooler next to the desk, she plopped down on the chairs across from it. There was no need to hurry back to helping Emily because the girl really didn't need that much help to begin with. Her lip reading was the best Gail had ever seen and she really didn't seem to talk a lot to begin with, sort of like her aunt. Holly propped the tent bag up against the desk and started moving around the room and pulling stuff out of the cabinets like bandages, anti septic, and simple medicines for things like headaches and stomachaches.

"Wow, you really have been busy, huh?" Gail just sat watching her, not really know how to help.

"Wouldn't have told you I was if I wasn't," laughed Holly, like that way of thinking should have just been the most obvious thing in the world. Then she turned and looked at Gail, a little worried. "You didn't think I was avoiding you, did you?"

"Eh, wouldn't be the first time for me," shrugged Gail. "I don't know if you've noticed, Stewart, but I'm a very difficult person to love."

For a second, Holly didn't say anything and just looked at her with that smirk that Gail kept telling herself she hated. Then Holly went back to putting together the first aid kit for the tent party while Gail played games on her phone.

"It's not as difficult as you think," said Holly finally as she picked up the cooler and deposited it on Gail's lap. "Go get me ice from the kitchen. I have a bottle of tequila for this adorable blonde that I need to properly smuggle passed a bunch of kids."

"I'm not adorable. I'm scary and vicious," muttered Gail as she stood up with the cooler. She hoped Holly couldn't see her blushing as she held the door open so Gail could leave.

"Yep. Super vicious," chuckled Holly. "Like a kitten."

Gail scowled at the closed door for a second before wandering toward the kitchens.

"Wait," thought Gail as she stopped in front of the kitchen door and knocked. "Wait just a minute. Am I willingly getting something for someone without being begged or bribed? What the fuck, Holly Stewart?"

Gail pouted the whole way back to the nurse's office. When she got to the door she kicked it twice since she didn't want to put the cooler down to just have to pick it back up. Just because she got Holly the ice didn't mean she'd be happy or pleasant about it. Holly must have read her mind, because when she opened the door and found a grouchy, pouty Gail on the other side, she smiled and took the cooler form her with little effort.

"Thanks," said Holly. Gail threw herself down in the office chair after deciding she deserved it after her journey. Holly glanced at her as she pulled a bottle out of her tent bag and shoved it at the bottom of the cooler. "Bottom drawer on the left."

Gail pulled the drawer open with a huff but changed her tune at the sight of a bag of chips. She quickly pulled them open and stuffed her face. Holly sat on the corner of the desk, which made Gail realize for the first time that the desk was much neater than the first time she'd seen it.

"You cleaned a desk that's not ever yours. How very weird of you."

"I was bored," said Holly, swinging her feet in front of her and looking at Gail. "You excited about tonight?"

"Not really. Well, except for the alcohol and junk food. I love junk food," said Gail as she shoved a few more chips in her mouth.

"I would have never guessed." Holly rolled her eyes. Gail offered the chip bag to her and Holly shook her head. "I brought them for you. I'm not really big on junk food. I'm a fruits and veggies gal myself. Although, I do love chocolate."

"You're so weird," said Gail as Holly smiled. "Are you excited?"

"Yep. I love camping."

"Of course you do, nerd." Gail nudged Holly's legs with her own.

"My family goes camping at least every couple of years. Usually around my birthday." Holly lightly kicked sideways at Gail's legs because Gail kept swinging them into her. As lame as Gail thought it was to be 22 and playing the Gail equivalent of footsie with another woman she found herself unable to stop. She'd make fun of herself for it later, probably while drinking.

"Happy Birthday Holly! Let's go get eaten by bears and lions and moose," said Gail rolling her eyes. Holly just laughed her stupid, gorgeous laugh.

"In all my years of camping, I've never seen a bear or lion."

"And moose?" asked Gail, a little more worried.

"I have seen moose. However, they don't tend to eat people, Gail."

"Says you. What are you? A scientist?" Gail threw the empty bag away and crossed her arms over her chest. When she met Holly's eyes, the brunette quirked an eyebrow. "Shut your face. I meant, like, an animal scientist."

"Go pack your stuff, Peck. We're leaving soon and I doubt you've gotten anything ready." Holly hopped off the desk and ruffled Gail's hair. She scowled and brushed her fingers through her hair to fix it. "Oh, do you need a tent? I only own a big one since I go camping with my family. You're welcome to bunk with me since I'm sure 'owning a tent' isn't on the top of the Gail Peck priority list."

"So long as you promise to keep your hands to yourself," said Gail without a second thought to the tent Dov brought along for her. Then as she was leaving, she paused before closing the door all the way and turned to stick her head back in. Holly met her eyes and tilted her head. Gail shrugged and with a wink added, "or not."

As she walked across the campground she smiled about the look on Holly's face after her parting comment. It was very reminiscent of the flustered look on her face in the shower that morning. She had no idea what that meant but it was certainly amusing. As much as the imminent threat of bears still scared Gail, she was starting to think this camping thing would be pretty fun. At the very least, it might give her the chance to figure out this thing with Holly.

Note: So, I really don't plan on having much of a freak out from Gail, just a lot of confusion and denial. I mean, she's very iffy because she's still Gail but you also have to remember that this is Gail before all the stuff in the show that made her feel like she was never first pick so I feel like she'd still be guarded but not AS badly. Not to mention the fact that I'm really trying to keep this in the romantic comedy category. My other fic is dramatic enough. The show is dramatic enough. Life is dramatic enough.

To everyone who asked: Yes, Holly was hitting her head on the shower wall because she thinks Gail is straight and she's starting to like her.

To TheCdKnight: I was actually thinking about doing some sort of sequel but I don't want to make any promises. I was also thinking about maybe writing some side stuff on my tumblr about Holly's POV but again, no promises. I feel bad making promises because I worry I won't keep them.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: Another note to say I love all the support. Seriously. This chapter would have been even longer but it's sort of hard to write certain flirtatious things while singing "Let It Go" repeatedly with a 2 year old.

Holly seemed suspicious when Gail offered to carry the cooler but she let her do it anyway, though she kept eying the blonde every once in awhile. Lucky for Gail, Emily showed up as the kids started to gather together outside the cafeteria to leave for the trip and she was able to sneak the wine bottle to the bottom of the cooler with the tequila. Dov had tried to interrogate her when she declined his tent offer but she just shrugged him off saying she'd rather have nerd cooties than Epstein cooties. Nick was quick to take up the extra tent.

If Gail had been aware of the hike it took to get to the camping site, not only would she have complained more, she wouldn't have offered to carry Holly's dumb cooler. The brunette could have just had hot wine for all grumpy Gail cared about. She probably would have worn better shoes too, instead of her boots. Although, she was glad she had worn a tank top and shorts. Otherwise that would have sucked because of how hot she was getting.

"You looking a little hot there, Gail. Need some help?" Nick walked up beside her as they followed behind a group of teens.

"Oh my god yes," said Gail as she quickly shoved the cooler into Nick's arms. "But you look in there and you die, Collins. You understand me?"

"Affirmative. No looking in your secret cooler."

"I just don't want you to be the reason we get caught with booze, numb-nuts," growled Gail, flexing her arms. They had started to cramp up.

Gail stayed pretty quiet for the rest of the hike, preferring instead to listen to music and watch Holly walk further up the path. Before Holly, Gail had never really thought of women like the way she found herself daydreaming about Holly. Sure, she had found women attractive and she had even kissed a few at parties but none of it was like this.

Could it just be misplaced affection based on the closeness of their friendship? Misplaced affection usually involved imagining shoving someone against a tree and kissing her like the world was ending. Right? Otherwise, why would Gail be picturing that? It was also probably just misplaced affection to wonder how smooth Holly's thighs were, how soft her lips were, how loud she could get, how she tasted…

Gail shook her head and looked at the people around her, praying to God that telepathy really was just science fiction. Although from the way Holly was looking back at her, with a bemused smile, she was suddenly not so sure. Blushing, Gail decided it was safer to stare at the ground the rest of the hike.

Setting up all the tents turned out to be not so hard. It was easy for Gail, anyways. She refused to help and instead stayed nearby and ate cheese puffs. Anytime someone protested she would just explain that she was a spoiled upper middle class girl who had never gone camping and would probably end up stabbing someone with one of the stakes on accident. People tended to leave her alone after that. Even Doug just laughed and shook his head as he walked off to help his wife set up their own tent.

The kids' tents, which fit four kids per tent, were all set up in circular rings around a huge campfire area in the middle. There were logs cut in half for seats and a huge bonfire area in the middle. Then the counselor's and staff were set up in smaller circles around the outside of the inner tents. Solar powered lights were strung up in the trees all around the site and then strung down two small dirt paths. One led to an outhouse for the boys and the other to an outhouse for the girls.

By the time everything had gotten set up and everyone had figured out where they were sleeping, Doug and a few of the older staff had already pulled out food and were cooking it on a portable grill platform over a raging fire. Gail had been watching them set everything up from one of the back rows of log seats. It was amazing how much these people loved being out and doing this stuff. Then there was Gail who just sat back and silently hated all the nature around her. She was actually rather envious and thought that maybe she should have at least tried to help set up the tents.

"Hey," said Holly as she plopped down next to Gail. "You look tired from all your snacking."

"Exhausted. You don't even know." Gail leaned back to look at Holly. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her glasses pushed up to the top of her head, her shirt and shorts looked a little worn and dusty, and her skin glistened with sweat. Another pang of guilt hit her. "Sorry for being useless. I'm pretty uncoordinated. I really would have ended up injuring someone."

"She would have. She can barely work a toaster," said Nick, sitting down on the log in front of them. Gail scowled at him and he smiled. Andy, Dov, and Chloe weren't far behind Nick.

"First off, it wasn't a normal toaster. It was one of those toaster oven things. Second, it was possessed by Satan," shrugged Gail. "There was no saving it."

"Woah. How did you mess up with a toaster?" Dov was smiling at the thought as kids started to fill in the empty seats around them with food. The counselors were supposed to wait until the campers had their own to go get theirs. "I mean, she works a blender quite well."

"You know, Dov," said Nick. "I still don't actually know. She won't tell me. All I know is that when I went to bed I had a toaster oven and when I woke up it looked like it had been set on fire and smashed with a hammer."

Gail just shrugged again as everyone around her laughed. She wasn't a huge fan of the rest of them laughing but the way Holly was bent over holding her sides, she just ignored the others.

"Dov," said Gail. "The day a toaster can provide me with a delicious alcoholic beverage is the day I care about its continual existence. A blender is a girl's best friend."

"I think that should just be 'a blender is Gail's best friend'," added Chloe. Another round of laugher followed. "Oh! It looks like we can get food now. Come on."

They all headed to the line and filled up their plates with hot dogs, burgers, coleslaw, potato salad, and beans. Gail refused to put any extra stuff on her burger because the lettuce, onions, and pickles were all on the same plate as tomatoes and she would rather spend the trip not breaking out in hives. By the time everyone had gotten food and taken seats around the campfire, Doug had removed the grill to make the fire larger. The sun had completely vanished from the sky when everyone had thrown out their plates and been given graham crackers and chocolate bars. Nick and Andy offered to help roast the marshmallows and when they were done cooking they would walk to one of the kids and let the kid grab it between the crackers.

Gail sat next to Holly in the back. She leaned back, resting on her hands, looking up at the sky. The stars looked so much brighter than she could ever remember seeing. It was beautiful. She figured that even if she were to suddenly get eaten by a bear, it wouldn't be so bad. It wouldn't be too bad to only die with one regret.

The chattering around her started to die down and she looked down toward the fire to see Doug raising his hands far above him, walking around the fire so everyone saw him. The way he was silhouetted against the fire looked pretty haunting. You couldn't make out his features. All you saw was this black form.

"A crazed man had escaped from a nearby asylum, blared the reports," started Doug in a deep rasping voice that carried to every part of the campsite. He was telling a scary story that Gail had heard a million times but the way Doug told it, even Gail had to admit that the hairs on the back of her neck stood up a little.

Gail looked next to her to see Holly watching Doug with a smile, like she was merely enjoying a nice story from a friend about shopping or going to a movie. Even though she sort of felt like a creep, she found herself watching Holly. The brunette had her legs pulled up to her body and crossed, with her hands resting on the wood next to her. Gail looked at the hand next to her and furrowed her brow.

Sitting up, Gail reached over and lightly ran her fingers over Holly's wrist before resting her hand on top of the other woman's. She felt Holly tense for a moment so she glanced over to see Holly looking down at their hands. A look of confusion turned into a small smile before Holly went back to watching Doug. Gail exhaled the breath she realized she was holding and Holly's fingers spread out to allow Gail's to slip in between them.

After two more scary stories, the older staff started to herd the tired and terrified kids into their tents while doing a head count. Without a word, Holly had gotten up to go say goodnight to Emily and Gail already missed the warmth of her hand. She followed Chloe and Dov back to where their tents had been set up and sat down next to a small fire Nick was working on in the middle of the tents. Chloe and Andy were sharing a tent, while Dov and Nick had single tents set up side by side. Gail figured the other tent was Holly's and moved to look inside it. The cooler sat to the side of the door and she saw her stuff had been set on top of an extra sleeping bag.

Clicking on the small tent light hanging from the top of tent, Gail sat next to her pack. Pulling a sweater out of her bag she tried to throw it on only to yelp and throw it across the tent. Gail's skin was on fire and she immediately realized she hadn't put any sunscreen on that morning.

"Gail? Are you…?" Holly's head quickly appeared in the tent opening. "Oh my god. You are so red."

Gail couldn't even think of a smart-ass retort. She just whimpered and looked up at Holly while holding her arms out in front of her. Now that her body had registered the pain it's like every movement hurt. How had she not felt this earlier? Was Holly really that distracting?

"Hey, Holly, is Gail okay?" Chloe's voice could be heard from outside the tent.

"Yeah. She just…got a bit sunburnt. No big deal. You guys start without us," said Holly, pulling herself from the tent for a moment to talk to Chloe. "I'll help her and we'll be right out."

"Okay," said Chloe before raising her voice and directing it in the tent. "Sorry about your sunburn Gail."

Holly entered the tent with an apologetic smile. The kind you give a little kid who just said something really stupid but in a kind of endearing way. Gail just looked at her arms and whimpered again. She heard rustling behind her before feeling the coldest, most amazing, feeling in the world on her shoulders. Holly had brought obviously brought aloe vera for the kids and was now rubbing it on Gail's exposed skin. While the blonde had been thinking of Holly touching her all day, she had to admit this was not what she had in mind. Though, it still felt pretty great.

"I don't see any blisters but you're still going to hurt for a few days." Holly rubbed the cooling lotion over the burnt spots of her back and upper arms before moving to sit in front of her. She held the bottle in front of her for Gail to take but being the sly dog she was Gail just whimpered and pouted while slightly wiggling her arms in front of her. "You are not that burned, Gail. Although with your complexion, I'm sure it hurts a lot."

Gail pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at Holly before closing them and turning her head up in a mock huff. "Maybe it just feels better when you do it."

A moment of silence and Gail was getting tempted to look over at Holly. Then she felt her outstretched arms being lightly pulled to rest in her lap before cold lotion was being rubbed in on them. Gail chanced a peek at her friend and saw her smiling down at Gail's arms. If Gail didn't know any better she could have sworn the other woman was blushing. Every time Gail flirted with her, Holly seemed to just become completely knocked off balance. It was adorable and before she really thought about what she was doing, Gail was dipping her head down to kiss Holly.

Holly hesitated for a second before leaning into the kiss. Gail reached a sunburnt hand up to lightly run her fingers across the brunette's jaw, tilting her head up to deepen the kiss. The kiss broke when both women realized how quickly they were running out of air and even then they rested their foreheads together, not wanting to move away from the moment. Gail watched Holly's face and tried to figure out what the emotions flittering across her face meant as she kept her eyes closed and her brow furrowed.

"Am I that bad at kissing," joked Gail, trying to shield herself from the moment she thought was coming where Holly would shove her away and their friendship would be over. Holly's eyes snapped open and she leaned backwards slightly but more out of embarrassment from what Gail could tell. She was never great at body language.

"What? No. I just…" stammered Holly. She sighed and stared down at Gail's hands, hesitantly touching them and rubbing in what was left of the aloe vera on her own hands. "I just…don't want to be an experiment, Gail. Not with you."

"I don't do experiments," whispered Gail leaning in and capturing Holly's lips again for a much quicker kiss. "That's your job, nerd."

The adorable smile that crossed Holly's face made Gail's cheeks flush and she looked down at her legs. They weren't as red as her arms but her thighs were still pretty sore. She smirked and handed the bottle of aloe vera to Holly who titled her head.

"You missed a spot," said Gail, pointing at her thighs. Holly smirked and leaned in to kiss Gail as she ran lotion-covered hands from Gail's knees up to the bottoms of her shorts and back down.

"Hey losers, we'd kind of like some of that tequila before Gail downs it all," called Andy from outside the tent. Both women snapped their attention toward the tent flap. Gail thought it was nice to know that she wasn't the only one who forgot they were camping and surrounded by other people.

"Be out in a second. Don't worry though," stammered Holly. Gail loved how cute Holly was when she was flustered and she decided to make it worse by kissing along Holly's jaw and nipping at her ear. "Gail's too…burned to move. L-let alone get the tequila out of the…um…cooler."

"Okay, well Dov is trying to finish the beers we saved for you," laughed Andy.

"Way to snitch," shouted Dov.

"Well, we'll be out in a second." Holly turned her head and narrowed her eyes at Gail, who had kept up her nipping along Holly's jaw. Gail just smiled innocently. Then Holly smirked and it was Gail's turn to be suspicious. The brunette ran her hands back up Gail's thighs, this time not stopping at her shorts and Gail had to bite her lip to keep from cursing. "You guys go ahead with the beer. I think tequila will be enough for me."

"Awww, but I brought you a present," said Gail.

"What kind of present?" Holly eyed the blonde suspiciously.

Despite the pain of moving, Gail got up and moved to the cooler. She reached through the ice, which felt amazing on her skin, and pulled out the bottle of wine, holding it out for Holly to grab and check out the label. Holly looked from the bottle to the blonde and that dorky smile Gail loved was on her face again. Even as Holly pulled Gail to her for a kiss, that smile stayed on her lips.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: Sorry, this got posted a little later than I had originally hoped.

Three shots down and Gail was already feeling better despite the burn covering most of her skin. Dov had thought he was funny and smacked Gail on the shoulder only to end up on the ground cupping his balls. All the tents near them were alive with talking and giggling even after a call for lights out had been issued so they didn't feel any pressure about getting caught. If anything they just sounded like a bunch of overgrown teenagers giggling about everything. Holly had been nice and shared her wine with Chloe and Andy.

"Gail. I have a very serious question for you," said Chloe as she plopped down on the blanket that Gail and Holly were sitting on. Gail quickly moved closer to Holly, trying to hide the fact that they were holding hands. "Do you like drinking games?"

"Who doesn't?" said Gail. "I mean, really Chloe. What a stupid question."

"Okay so we have enough beers left to play 'never have I ever'. We were hiding these from Dov," said Andy, handing everyone an open bottle. Holly lay back far enough to pull a blanket out of the tent and tossed it over her legs, which Gail quickly took advantage of and pulled it over herself. Her skin was on fire so the blanket was actually nice to keep some of the heat from the campfire off of her. It was also nice to feel Holly's fingers find their way between her own.

"Okay, I already regret this," sighed Gail.

"I've never…been to the states," started Chloe.

Everyone except Chloe and Dov took a drink. The game started innocently enough. While Gail usually hated this game she was learning a lot of little things about Holly. Like that Holly had stolen something, she had braces, she had gone a week without showering once (claimed it was finals and she had forgotten), she had never done drugs, she had never shot a gun before, she had never had a pet, and she had never been spanked as a kid. Gail found the last one really strange until Holly mentioned something about four hugs a day and Gail just couldn't believe her family was real. As the alcohol began to hit them harder, the questions found themselves getting a bit more sexual.

"I've never kissed a girl," said Chloe. Everyone drank.

"I've never kissed a guy," laughed Dov. Everyone drank. And then everyone looked at Nick who just shrugged.

"Shit happens. I've never lied about my age to get drunk," said Nick. Gail and Andy drank.

"I've never watched porn." Andy practically whispered the last word and Gail snorted at the innocence before taking a drink.

"I've never taken nude photos," said Holly. Gail took a drink.

"Okay, I'm really starting to feel like this game is unfair," said Gail. She pretty much had to take a drink for every single statement and was on her third beer. She actually had to take one from Holly, who was still on her first. "I think you all just talked shit about me before deciding to play this."

"It's not our fault your rebellious period lasted…well," said Nick. "Has it ended yet?"

Gail's grin made Nick wish he could back up. "I've never left someone at the alter."

"Gail…" Nick's face dropped to look at his beer.

"You wanna be an ass, Collins, I can be an ass." Gail got up and stumbled into the tent behind her. "I'm done."

She didn't hear anyone talking outside the tent when she threw herself down on her sleeping bag. After a few minutes though she could hear hushed voices and a few laughs before Holly entered the tent and sat next to Gail with the bottle of tequila. Gail pushed herself up on her elbows and grabbed the bottle, swallowing down a mouthful.

"You okay?" Holly traced her fingers along the burn on Gail's thigh. The blonde couldn't decide if it hurt or felt amazing and just decided to lie still and let it happen.

"Yeah. He can just be such an annoying shit sometimes. He acts like he knows me. That just irks the shit out of me. If he actually knew me, he'd know not to act like a know it all little shit, you know?" Holly laughed at the number of times Gail just said 'know' but her face fell a little again as she watched her fingers trail lazily over Gail's skin. Gail may suck at body language but she knew that look. "I don't have any feelings for him. If that's what you're wondering."

Holly met Gail's eyes and smirked. Then a wicked grin passed over Gail's face causing Holly to tilt her head like she usually did when she was trying to figure out what the blonde was up to. Gail got up and made sure the tent was completely zipped up before crawling toward Holly and quickly kissing her. She directed the brunette to lie back on the sleeping bag and started to push Holly's shirt up her stomach.

"Gail…" breathed Holly, catching Gail's hands to stop her.

"Geez Stewart, haven't you ever done body shots before?" Gail moved to straddle Holly's legs and kissed a trail from her neck, over her shirt, down to her tan, ridiculously tone stomach with a very sexy piercing.

"Um…not any that started like this," said Holly, a little out of breath. "This usually leads to something much different."

"Get your mind out gutter, Holly. We just started kissing today," said Gail, planting another kiss above Holly's naval. "So impatient. Already thinking about me going down on you."

The flustered look was back on Holly's face and Gail loved it. For someone who was usually so put together she sure did come apart quite quickly with just a little teasing. Gail popped open the tequila and slowly poured a small bit of the liquid in dip of Holly's stomach at her naval. The brunette shivered and licked her lips and Gail actually had to hold back a laugh when Holly put her glasses back on so she could see what the blonde was doing. Gail moved her face right above Holly's stomach and lightly blew on the tequila while meeting the other woman's eyes.

"You should probably breathe," whispered Gail. At those words, Holly must have realized that she was holding her breath and laid her head back to breathe properly. As soon as brown eyes met her gaze again, Gail ran her tongue up Holly's stomach, starting from below her naval and pausing to slowly play with the jewelry. She made sure to lick up every drop of tequila before moving up Holly's body and capturing her parted lips.

"Okay. Question time," breathed Holly against Gail's lips.

"Hmmm?" Gail kissed along Holly's jaw and up to her ear.

"Have you ever been with a woman before?" Holly's eyes were shut tight and Gail could feel her fingers clutching at the back of Gail's top.

"Nope," whispered Gail into her ear with a pop. She moved and rested a hand on either side of Holly's head so she could look down at her. "I'm just sort of winging it. How am I doing?"

Holly laughed and moved her hands up to Gail's hair, tangling her fingers there and pulling her down. This kiss was much slower and more exploratory than the first few and Gail lightly nudged Holly's mouth open with her top lip. Even though Gail had no idea what she was doing with Holly, it felt so good that all she could think about was how she wanted more. Holly's tongue met hers and Gail shuddered and sighed heavily into her mouth.

Gail ran one of her hands down to Holly's stomach. She already knew she had a slight obsession with the brunette's toned abdomen. All that running and exercise Holly did certainly paid off and Gail had a new found respect for it. When Holly pulled back, Gail absentmindedly tried to follow her but her head was held in place by the other woman's hands.

"Okay, as amazing as this is," Holly tried to speak while catching her breath. "We have to slow down."

"Why?" Gail pouted and tried to give Holly her best puppy dog eyes.

"Being drunk and surrounded by kids comes to mind," said Holly holding back a laugh at the adorable, blue eyed, horn-dog looking down at her.

"Making you…" Holly quickly interrupted Gail with a kiss before she could finish her thought.

"Don't finish that statement," said Holly against Gail's lips. Gail was pouting again. She wanted to keep touching Holly and she was really confused and a little sad that Holly didn't seem to feel the same. "And don't look at me like that. I want you Gail. I want you like anthropologists want to find the missing link…"

"Nerd," laughed Gail. Although, if Gail was being honest with herself, and she never was, Holly's words were making her heart race more than anything else that just happened. Out of respect for the serious moment Holly obviously wanted to have, Gail sat up and rested on her legs. Holly followed and leaned back on her arms, looking up into blue eyes.

"I don't do one night stands," said Holly making sure to keep her voice down, as everything around them got quieter. Gail ran her fingers and gaze down Holly's stomach as if saying goodbye before pulling the brunette's shirt back down. "And I don't do friends with benefits. So, I guess I would just like to know what this is before we do…anything…else."

"I hate these conversations," said Gail. She was fiddling with the hem of Holly's shirt.

"Sorry."

"What? No, don't apologize. I mean…" Gail shook her head. "Yeah, I hate these conversations but normally I'd have already left. I wouldn't have even told you about hating these conversations. I didn't know what else to say."

"I really like you," said Holly, quickly interrupting Gail's rambling. Gail actually looked up through her hair to meet Holly's eyes.

"I really like you, too," mumbled Gail.

"Okay, so far so good. We're on the same page." Holly smirked and that make Gail smile. "Gail, would you like to go on a date with me?"

"Are we teenagers?" Gail couldn't help it. She was still Gail. Holly just smiled and gave Gail a quick kiss.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." Holly smiled and pulled Gail's face down to rest their foreheads together.

"Good," said Gail. She kissed Holly's nose before moving to her lips. "And you should know that your glasses, while super sexy, are very uncomfortable while kissing."

"Do you want me to rub more lotion on your burn?" Gail would never tell Holly but she loved it when she would ignore her smartass comments and change the subject. So, she just nodded and Holly smiled before giving her another quick kiss. If this was what being with Holly was like, she'd go on dates to Chuck E Cheese for all she cared.

Gail sat down with her back to Holly and was rewarded by the cooling lotion being rubbed on her burning skin. Then Holly pushed her blonde hair to the front of her body and started to kiss along the newly revealed skin of her neck while running her hands down Gail's arms. Gail shivered when she felt Holly's breath against her ear.

"I want to apologize again for stopping you but I can get kind of loud," whispered Holly. Gail's abdomen started to feel almost as hot as her sunburnt skin and she really doubted there was an lotion for that.

Note: The thing Gail was going to say: "Making you cum, comes to my mind." Just in case anyone was wondering what I was thinking when I wrote it. It made me laugh when I thought it.

Sorry, no smut. Don't worry guys, if I get to a point where there is smut I will literally name the chapter: Chapter ? SMUT! So you will all know it's happening.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: I might have made Gail a bit too adorable. Oops. My bad.

Gail woke up in pain. So much pain. She was pretty sure that her body was radiating pain and she was shocked when she turned her head and saw Holly was sleeping soundly next to her. How could Holly not feel how much terrible pain she was in? And for a brief moment she thought about throwing her bag at Holly just so she could know a small fraction of her pain. However, she couldn't. Not just because that involved moving which would surely hurt more, but also because Holly looked so cute. Her hair was a mess covering most of her face, her lips were parted, her nightshirt and night pants clung to her body in all the right ways, and Gail found that she was no longer thinking about her sunburn, or her pain.

At Gail's insistence (okay so it was more like begging), they had zipped together their sleeping bags the previous night after Holly made her promise to keep her hands to herself. Gail also had to promise to sit there and drink a whole bottle of water before the brunette would even let her lie down, which led to Holly helping her stumble to the girl's outhouse. There had also been a no cuddling rule until Gail's sunburn wasn't so bad and at this moment, Gail couldn't have been more appreciative. The sleeping bag and her clothes were already making her incredibly uncomfortable.

Despite all the no touching rules though, Holly's hand seemed to have found Gail's in the night and their fingers were lightly laced together next to Holly's face.

Gail looked up at the top of the tent and watched the colors of the fabric change as the sun rose higher in the sky. Her skin was burning but she didn't want to move and wake up her companion so she just lay there, trying to keep her mind off her skin with the memories of the previous night. She still wasn't 100% sure about what she and Holly were but she definitely liked the kissing and the handholding.

Finally, she couldn't stand the pain any longer and carefully pulled her hand from Holly's, watching her face to make sure she didn't wake her. With a groan she managed to extract herself from the sleeping bag to sit on top of it and pulled her bag to her. She pulled out a small tube of hydrocortisone and some Motrin. Dry swallowing two pills she started to rub the cream on the really painful parts of her burn that she could reach. She had been hoping to not get burned at all but Gail was always careful to pack her own little sunburn kit in situations that involved the sun.

A cold water bottle was suddenly touching her and she shuddered before looking over her shoulder at a sleepy Holly holding the bottle against her arm. Gail took the bottle and gulped some down before turning around to sit next to Holly, looking down at her.

"Hydrocortisone? Someone has been burned before," laughed Holly, lying back down and taking the small tube of cream from Gail to squint at it.

"Have you seen my complexion? The sun hates me," said Gail. She lightly trailed her fingers up Holly's shorts and under her shirt, pulling the fabric up slightly to touch the skin along her hipbones. Holly's eyes closed and she smiled. Gail liked being able to touch Holly's skin. She especially liked the responses she got to it. Leaning down, Gail placed a kiss above Holly's naval and the brunette laughed before lightly pushing Gail's face away from her abdomen.

"No. Bad Gail," teased Holly. "Shoo."

"Rude. Here I am, in excruciating pain and being shooed away from you body," huffed Gail. She threw herself backwards and closed her eyes in mock exhaustion. "Life is unfair. Bears, kill me now."

Gail kept her eyes shut, even when she felt Holly climb on top of her. Soft fingers lightly ran up and under the fabric of Gail's shirt, pushing the top onto her ribs and causing goose bumps to spread across her skin. Gail almost bit through her bottom lip when she felt Holly's lips leave light kisses all over the pale skin of her stomach. It felt like her abdomen was on fire and the feeling was spreading lower. Gail quickly shot up, pushing Holly's shoulders back so she didn't ram her chest into her head.

Trying to catch her breath, Gail opened her eyes to meet Holly's. The other woman smirked and leaned in to kiss her.

"And that, Gail, is why you have to stop doing that," whispered Holly against Gail's parted lips.

"Okay. Okay. No more stomach kisses. Got it." Gail was still trying to catch her breath when Holly moved back in to capture her lips. So long as she could keep kissing Holly, she figured she could deal with this new rule.

"I don't want you to think I never want stomach kisses." Gail liked the fluttering little kisses she was getting while Holly spoke. They were making her heart race. "But stomach kisses are not for camping with little kids and teenagers. That's for when we're in a bed," Gail swallowed a knot in her throat at the way Holly lowered her voice, "maybe back at my place."

"Hey, Holly!" Nick's voice rang out from outside the tent. "Some kid fell and scrapped his knees up pretty bad."

"Coming." With a quick peck on Gail's lips Holly was pulling on a pair of shorts, throwing her glasses on head, and tossing Gail a pair of clothes. She grabbed her first aid lunchbox and headed out of the tent. "Drink water, Gail."

Gail was still staring at the empty space where Holly had been a moment ago. That moment when Holly had mentioned a bed. Her bed. Her bed and stomach kisses. And Gail's mind was off in a gutter thinking about Holly in a bed with nothing on but sheets.

"Gail," said Chloe, sticking her head into the tent. "Emily is looking for you. Oh, wow. You are really burnt."

Gail tossed a shoe at Chloe who quickly ran off to help gather the kids for breakfast. When she knew the red head was gone, Gail carefully pulled off her top and exchanged it for the loose, cotton long sleeve shirt with a hood that Holly had given her and then changed her shorts for the pair of baggy capris also thrown at her. She guessed these were Holly's clothes because while they fit Gail just fine they were a lot looser than any of the clothes she tended to wear. No wonder Holly handed it to her. Skintight clothes were the last things Gail wanted to wear that day.

Meeting up with Emily around the dead campfire, Gail plopped down next to her and pulled a muffin off the girl's plate.

"You look really funny," signed Emily. Gail stuck her tongue out and pulled the hood on the shirt up over her head and put her aviators on. "And nice clothes."

"They're Holly's."

"Yeah. I know," signed Emily with a sly smile.

"Shut your face. You're 12."

The rest of the day was filled with learning about survival skills such as lighting a fire, making drinkable water, setting up a shelter, spotting poisonous plants, and so on. Things Gail already knew. She might not know anything about camping but she could write a book about being a preteen trying to survive in the woods.

"You look bored," said Holly. Gail was sitting against a tree in the shade and Holly sat down next to her and laced her fingers with the blonde's.

"When I was younger, my mom would take me out to a store in the middle of nowhere," said Gail, not even looking over at Holly but squeezing her hand and running her thumb over her skin. "And she'd leave me there with nothing and I had to find my way back home so yeah, I'm kind of bored."

"Wow. That's…" Holly seemed like she couldn't even think of anything to say to that. People usually couldn't, so Gail expected no different from Holly. "That's terrible. Like, I'm sorry if I offend you by saying this but that is just awful parenting."

Gail looked over at Holly and let her sunglasses slide down her nose so she could really look at her. The brunette was staring straight ahead and had her face scrunched up into a look of disgust at the idea of leaving a child somewhere unattended. It was the cutest thing and Gail's heart skipped at hearing someone other than herself speak negatively about the infamous Elaine Peck brand of parenting. Without even thinking about where they were, Gail leaned over quickly and gave Holly a peck on the cheek. Holly shook her head and turned to look at her with a big goofy grin on her face, not expecting anything like that from Gail.

The sound of someone laughing made Gail look up to see Emily walking over to her. She kicked at Holly's boot and waved.

"I told you she was cute," signed Emily to Holly.

"You are 12," signed Gail and Holly at almost the same time making Emily laugh harder.

The rest of the day was spent mostly trying to stop teenagers from running off and making out with each other in the forest. Holly was practically running out of bandages and antiseptic by the time dinner rolled around with the number of kids who managed to scrape something or pick at something or get stung by something. It was a little before dinner when Gail went to the tent so she could rub more hydrocortisone on her burn and she found Holly lying on her stomach with her head resting on her arms. She had headphones on and didn't hear Gail enter the tent.

Shockingly enough, Gail didn't even think about bothering her because of how peaceful she looked. So, Gail slumped down onto her side of the sleeping bag with her back to Holly and pulled out the lotion. Carefully, she pulled her shirt off and started to rub the cream on her chest and arms. She sighed when she felt a kiss on her shoulder, then another on her neck, and another on the other shoulder. Holly's hand reached around to pull the tube out of Gail's hand and rubbed the cream onto her back where she couldn't reach. Once she had the borrowed shirt back on, she leaned her head back onto Holly's chest and Holly wrapped her arms around Gail's neck.

"Have I mentioned yet that I really like being able to kiss you?" asked Holly as she leaned down and planted a kiss behind Gail's ear.

"How long have you liked me?" Gail played with Holly's watch and grabbed the bottle of water sitting next to her bag.

"Um…Do you want the honest answer or the super suave answer?"

"There's a super suave answer?" Gail tilted her head back to look up at Holly who smiled down at her.

"No. That was a lie." Holly kissed Gail's forehead. Gail didn't think she'd ever tire of Holly kissing her. It was adorable and sweet. Very different from anyone else she'd ever been with, especially Nick. His kisses always felt needy, like he needed to reaffirm their relationship with each one. Holly just seemed to genuinely like kissing her. "Okay, so honest answer time. Well, I certainly thought you were hot the first time I saw you."

"In the bunk house? When you made me crack my head open and started spouting geek at me?" Gail smiled, remembering how annoyed she was with Holly that day.

"Yep. Might have been checking you out." Holly rested her head on top of Gail's. "So, when do you want to go on our date?"

"Wait, so when did you start to like me?" Gail honestly wanted to know and she could see Holly trying to change the subject.

"Depends on what you mean," said Holly. "Because I've enjoyed your company from day one or I wouldn't have talked to you so much and probably would have eaten lunch in the nurse's office."

"Your 'worthy distraction' speech," said Gail as she started to play with Holly's shorts.

"Exactly. So, date. When?" Holly was obviously trying to avoid talking about this and because Gail was getting hungry she decided to let her slide. For now.

"How do you feel about Disney movies?" Gail smiled as Holly leaned down to start blowing on her ear. Were relationships supposed to be this fun and easy because if so, Gail was starting to realize why none of the others worked out very well. How did Holly keep making her smile all the time? "One comes out this week."

"Sounds good to me," whispered Holly before nipping at Gail's ear causing the blonde to squeak and jump up out of her arms. Gail turned and narrowed her eyes, though she couldn't stop herself from still smiling. "Now I don't know about you, but I'm hungry and I can smell the food from here. Let's go."

"Damn, you know me so well," laughed Gail.

They headed off to the raging campfire they saw over the tents. Normally, Gail wouldn't' want anything to do with public displays of affection, something that Nick hated, but she decided she wanted something different with Holly. Or maybe she just thought Holly deserved something different. Either way, she grabbed Holly's wrist and ran her fingers down her palm until their fingers laced together. Holly looked over at her, head tilted in that questioning way before seeing the nervous smile on Gail's face and smiling brightly back at her.

Even as they waited in line for food with the other counselors, Gail didn't drop Holly's hand. Dov and Nick just gave the blonde questioning looks and she shrugged him off and squeezed Holly's hand tighter. When Holly took her hand back to get her food, Chloe gave Gail a thumbs up and Andy just smiled which just made her blush and shuffle after Holly with her own plate of food. When she plopped down next to Holly on a log in the back, the brunette gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and Gail found herself smiling stupidly at her food. Maybe different had its upsides.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: Things be getting steamy. Oh and there's like story and stuff and junk.

In the morning, everyone packed up their tents and after breakfast they began the hike back to the cabins. After the initial embarrassment of basically admitting something was going on with Holly, Gail had spent the rest of the night just enjoying everyone's company and cuddling up against Holly near the roaring campfire. She found being social much more bearable with Holly's fingers lightly running up and down her spine. It certainly helped distract her from the stupid sunburn.

Nick seemed to pretty much be kissing her ass ever since the game of "I Never" and he offered to carry her pack and the cooler. Holly kissed her on the cheek before she could open her mouth to tell him off and Gail caved, shoving her stuff into his arms and dropping the cooler on his feet. He just smiled his dumb ass puppy smile. Gail figured she could be nice to him for the day since he was leaving that night anyways.

Gail was wearing Holly's clothes again, leaving Holly in the shorts she already wore and one of Gail's tank tops. Seeing the brunette's athletic torso through the form fitting fabric made Gail think about switching their clothes more often even if Holly insisted that they weren't her style. How were skintight black clothes not someone's style? That just didn't make sense.

When they finally reached the cabins, everyone moved to drop off their stuff and rushed to take over the showers. Gail decided to wait until everyone else was finished before showering and went to help Doug set up extra chairs and tables in the yard in front of the cafeteria. On their hike back, she had overheard him talking to his wife about the parents that were coming to visit to see how their kids were doing after the first week. Not all the parents would be visiting today but the ones who could spare the time would be by after work hours, around dinner.

"How's the burn, kiddo?" Doug handed her a few chairs out of the storage shed and grabbed a couple tables himself.

"Very painful."

"I see that our nurse has been taking good care of you though," said Doug with a wink and Gail found herself staring at the ground hoping her burned face would hide any blushing. "Good thing we snagged her from her sister, huh?"

"Yep. She's pretty cool," mumbled Gail.

The rest of the time helping Doug and his Wife, Tonya, was spent listening to stories of past summer camps and how they met at the camp when they were younger and it was run by other people. Despite Gail's Grinch-like attitude, she actually liked listening to the way the married couple spoke with each other. It was always pleasant to see couples that actually got along and spoke to each other like human being instead of robots.

After everything was set up, Gail made her way to the nurse's office in hopes of spending some time with Holly. When she arrived she spotted Emily and Tim talking to each other on the steps to the porch. Emily looked up when she caught sight of someone headed toward them and got the most mischievous smile when she saw it was Gail. The blonde instantly slowed her pace and stopped short of the stairs.

"Should I be afraid of you looking at me like that?" asked Gail.

"No," signed Emily. "Holly's inside."

Gail was still incredibly suspicious but walked up the stairs passed the kids watching her and headed into the office. Sitting across from Holly on the chairs Gail usually took over was a tall, curvy, brunette with hazel eyes, and the same smirk Holly usually wore. Was this Holly's sister because…damn. The Stewart genes needed to be cultivated and protected or something.

"Hey. This is my um…" Holly quickly stood up from the desk and stood next to Gail, pointing toward the sitting woman who was now looking over Gail with an intense interest. Holly seemed nervous all of a sudden and when Gail tilted her head at her as if to ask why, Holly just shook her head and smiled. "My sister, April. April, this is Gail."

"You two were just talking about me, weren't you?"

"No…" said Holly in the least convincing tone ever.

"Yes," said April at the exact same time.

"Yes," mumbled Holly.

"Okay, well I feel incredibly uncomfortable," said Gail. "I'm going to…"

"No," interrupted Holly quickly. "Don't. I mean, please stay?"

"Yeah, calm down Gail. Holly was just telling me about how amazing she thinks you are. Nothing bad. Promise." said April with a smile.

As uncomfortable as Gail was, the way Holly was getting so flustered being called out by her sister was pretty adorable and she wouldn't mind see more of that. Gail moved around Holly and took the office chair, kicking her feet up onto the desk and crossing her arms over her chest. Holly smiled and sat next to her sister.

"So, Gail, Holly briefly said something about you joining the Police Academy soon?"

"It's a family thing. My parents are both white shirts and my brother is a detective," said Gail in her defensive monotone. Hearing this tone from Gail made Holly quirk an eyebrow at her but she still smiled at her when blue eyes found her own.

"White shirts?" asked April. The fact that she actually sounded interested put Gail a bit more at ease but the nature of this interrogation still had her on edge. Steve used to do it to her old boyfriends. Even Nick had experienced a bit of it when Steve found out his number and called him.

"The guys who sit at their desks and tell all the little guys in blue what to do," quipped Gail.

"Hmmm. You're right, Holly. She's definitely spunky," laughed April as she addressed her little sister. At that moment Gail was glad that Emily ran in to talk to her mother.

"Tim's parents are here if you want to come meet them," signed Emily.

"Sounds good to me, beautiful." Emily grabbed her mother's hand and went to pull April out the door. "Talk to you later Holls. It was nice to meet you, Gail."

The door closed and Gail could feel Holly looking at her, trying to tell what she was thinking. The brunette moved over to the desk, letting her fingers slide over the lock on the door before running them up Gail's leg. Gail swallowed hard at the knot in her throat. She could not figure out how this woman went from flustered bookworm to sexiest woman alive in a matter of seconds. It just wasn't fair, all the things this woman did to her.

"Sorry you were uncomfortable. My sister is sort of…"

"Nosey?" offered Gail while trying to keep her face blank as her emotions went haywire.

"Upfront. Curious. Protective." Holly lightly pulled at Gail's knees so her feet fell from the desk and laded on the floor. Then Holly maneuvered herself into Gail's lap and slid herself up the blonde's legs until their bodies were pushed together. Holly dipped her head down to whisper in Gail's ear. "You should probably breathe."

Quickly exhaling the breath she had been holding she narrowed her eyes at Holly for using her own words against her but the brunette just smiled and pushed her glasses up her nose. Then Holly leaned down and kissed Gail slowly, teasing her mouth open with her own lips. Gail had noticed the day before that Holly tended to smile while they kissed and, aside from loving it, it did very interesting things to her hormones. She ran her hands up Holly's thighs and was about to run her hands up and over her stomach when she remembered their talk from the day before.

"You can touch," breathed Holly, resting their foreheads together during the break in their kiss. She pulled Gail's hands up onto her stomach by her wrists and nuzzled her nose against Gail's before enveloping her in a kiss again. Gail was 100% sure that Holly could hear her heart pounding against her sternum because it was ridiculous how turned on she was getting from just making out with someone. Not just someone but with Holly.

Gail lightly traced the muscles of Holly's stomach before trialing down to her hipbones and back up, leaving one hand at her naval to play with the jewelry she found so fascinating. The blonde was rewarded with her first taste of the noises she wanted to elicit from Holly and she now understood why she was stopped back in the tent. Holly had her hands tangled in Gail's hair and the way her hips rocked against Gail's stomach whenever one of them shifted slightly was sending a very strong current between her legs which made air a highly demanded commodity at that moment.

Gail Peck loved sex and all things related to sex: the awkward making out, the usually sloppy foreplay, the laughing when things went wrong. Everything about sex was pretty awesome. Yet, she was more worked up from just a few minutes of making out with Holly than she had ever been with anyone else. Gail wasn't about to start buying Birkenstocks and rocking a mullet but she definitely knew there was no going back from this. No going back from Holly.

"Fuck," sighed Gail against Holly's lips. Holly sat up and smiled down at Gail, tilting her head to the side. Gail sheepishly looked up and met Holly's eyes. "I think it's my turn to say something about slowing down."

Holly just smiled and planted a quick kiss on her lips before standing up and helping Gail up out of the chair.

"You look cute in my clothes by the way," said Holly so casually it was almost like they weren't just having the hottest make out session of Gail's life.

"Thanks," mumbled Gail, staring down at their intertwined fingers.

"So." Holly leaned back against the desk and pulled Gail into her. "My sister says she's willing to hold the fort tomorrow if you want to go out and do something."

"Wall-E doesn't come out until Friday," pouted Gail. Holly laughed and leaned so their foreheads bumped.

"I know," said Holly. "I figured we could do something else tomorrow. A pre-date, date."

"Okay. Wait, what about Emily? I'm supposed to…" Holly cut her off with a kiss.

"Emily will probably spend all day hanging out with April," said Holly as she ran her free hand through Gail's hair, stopping on the back of her neck and playing with the small hairs there.

"K. Tomorrow then." Gail picked at the hem of Holly's shirt. Before Holly she was never good with this kind of physical intimacy but she found herself not wanting to move. "My 'fuck me' heels are back at home, though. So, tough break there, Stewart."

"Hmm. Too bad," laughed Holly. "It's okay though, you won't need them."

Holly moved to unlock the door and returned to her normal seat in the desk chair while Gail pulled herself up onto the desk.

"Why won't I need them? Where are we going?" Gail was still trying to get her heart rate back under control so she tried to use tomorrow's date as a reason to stop thinking about how amazing Holly's body felt against hers.

"It's a secret," said Holly, her lips turned up on one side into her usual smirk. Then she pulled a lollipop out of the bottom drawer where she kept snacks for Gail and handed it to the blonde. "Here, this will help."

"Help with what?" asked Gail as she removed the wrapper and stuck the pop in her mouth. Root beer. Her favorite.

"Distracting your mind from being turned on," quipped Holly. She was popping a cherry sucker into her mouth while looking down at a book she had just pulled out and propped open on the desk. Gail watched the candy roll around in Holly's mouth and really doubted Holly's hypothesis.

"And you just have a whole bag of these chilling in the desk?" Gail asked, kicking her foot at Holly's leg.

"Well, they also work wonders for kids in pain," said Holly. "Candy is very distracting."

A knock at the door distracted them and when a woman walked in with her injured son, Gail decided to beat it and waved to Holly who smiled at her before turning to the kid's scraped up arm.

Gail started to walk across the field toward the cafeteria for lunch when she spotted Emily waving at her from the picnic table under the tree where she usually met Holly. April was sitting next to Emily and smiled when she caught Gail's eye. Swallowing down her social anxiety, Gail headed over and sat down. April passed Gail a bag of food from a local burger joint and the blonde took it apprehensively.

"Holly mentioned how much you like junk food," said April.

Gail felt a little better about it and pulled out the fries, trying to fight the urge to shove them in her mouth like she normally would. She realized that even in front of Holly, she tended to eat like she would around her brother instead of the way she was now, which was proper Peck.

"Thank you," said Gail, remembering her etiquette.

"No problem."

"So, Holly said you were a nurse," said Gail, trying to make conversation and knowing that she was failing miserably.

"Yep. I don't have the patience for medical school like Holls but I love my job." April picked at her own food before handing the rest of her fries over to Emily. "I mean, there are a lot of doctors who tend to make being a nurse a pain with their big ass egos but getting to be hands on with the patients, getting to be the ones that people tend to trust, I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"I get that," said Gail. After everything she just said, she instantly knew she liked April. "My parents are all about getting as high up the ladder as you can. It's like they forget that beat cops are the ones out there on the streets everyday and that everything isn't just about paper work and politics. My brother is already a detective and going for Guns and Gangs."

April smiled and Gail quickly looked down at the chicken nuggets in front of her. This was the second Stewart she found herself being frank with and it was a very strange feeling for Gail Peck the ice queen, the woman who opened up to no one.

"So, am I going to get the 'don't break her heart or I'll hunt you down' speech? It's my brother's favorite," asked Gail, trying to change the tone of the conversation.

"I don't know. I don't really feel like I need to with you," laughed April. Gail looked up at her. What was that supposed to mean? "Besides, Holly is a big girl. She knows how to take care of herself. My only warning for you is that she takes schoolwork seriously. So, if you ever get ignored for studying, don't take it personally. She ignored me for finals one time and took me to Niagara once she'd found out she passed everything with top marks."

"Yep, she's a nerd," laughed Gail. April laughed too.

They started to talk about lighter topics like Emily and the summer camp and Gail found herself really enjoying April's company. After lunch she got a text from Dov asking if she wanted to say goodbye to Nick and she declined saying she would rather shoot herself in the foot but to tell him good luck. Nick would probably take it as pretty decent goodbye from her.

That night, after dinner and as the kids all started to head to the bunks, Gail gathered up all her bathroom stuff and headed to the showers. Since no one was in the bunkhouse when she was there she grabbed a pair of sweats out of Holly's bag and the long sleeve shirt with the hood she had borrowed the other night. The showers were empty when she got there and she whispered a thank you to the sky.

When she got back to the bunkhouse, Chloe was lying on her mattress reading a book about police procedure. She glanced over at Gail and waved and because Gail was in such a good mood she actually smiled back at her.

"So, are you and Holly like a thing now?" asked Chloe, sitting up and looking at Gail like an excited puppy. Gail was pretty sure the woman was half puppy. "I mean, totally not trying to pry, you guys are just really cute together was all I wanted to say. Sorry."

Gail looked over at Chloe and normally she would berate her for being so nosey but instead she just sort of nodded and smiled.

"Cool. Very cool. And, I'm not saying anything but if you guys want to cuddle in your super cool little fort, I'm totally okay with that," said Chloe and before Gail could even answer Chloe's phone rang and she was out the door yelling something about meeting Andy. Chloe seriously had to be part dog. There was no other explanation.

Before the door closed, Holly was entering the room looking behind her at Chloe's retreating body.

"Hey, guess what?" asked Gail as she threw her dirty laundry in a bag and sat down on her bunk.

"You stole my clothes?" Holly smirked at Gail and walked over to stand in front of her, leaning on the top bunk so her forehead was resting on the wood.

"Oh yeah…that. Well, I mean, you don't need it," said Gail with a smile. "But also, Chloe just gave us permission to cuddle in the Frankenbunk."

"Well, the rules still apply," said Holly as Gail pulled at her shirt until Holly crawled into the dark little space just for them.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: Might have gotten a bit carried away. I REGRET NOTHING!

Gail woke up to the smell of coffee somewhere near her head. Not the gross camp coffee, or even the coffee from the shop that Holly would bring her, but something premium blend, probably from another continent. She moaned and opened her eyes to see Holly holding an insulated mug above her face.

"That's all it takes to get you to moan?" laughed Holly, her oh-so-Stewart smirk playing at the corner of her lips. Gail sat up, snatching the coffee from her and tested to see how hot it was before practically downing half the mug and moaning again at the heavenly taste.

"Keep supplying me with fancy coffee and snack foods and I'll pretty much give you VIP access to any part of me you want," sighed Gail. Even the coffees Holly had brought her before paled in comparison to how heavenly this blend was. Blame it on her status loving parents but Gail was a total coffee snob and she didn't care in the slightest.

"Oooo, do I get a card? I want a card." Holly was sitting on the mattress next to Gail, her back resting against the frame of the bunk. She was sipping from her own travel mug. It literally had Holly's name written on the side in childish letters, probably by Emily. Gail looked the brunette up and down while sipping at what was left in the mug, wanting to savor it. Somehow, Holly looked like she hadn't spent a single night in a cabin in the woods. She was wearing a raglan shirt and jeans that looked new or at least too clean to have been anywhere near her bags, let alone in them. Gail also hadn't see the boots she was wearing before and her hair looked freshly washed and fell around her face in waves.

"Where've you been?" Gail eyed her suspiciously while also taking the time to eye her figure for other, non-specific, reasons.

"Home. You refused to get up earlier," shrugged Holly. "I even tried planting kisses along your neck. All you did was giggle and roll over."

"You're lucky I didn't slug you. And I don't giggle." Gail narrowed her eyes at Holly before getting back to the more pressing information. "Home? You live close enough to this place yet you're still staying here? How very weird of you."

"Did you miss the part where I said 'I like camping' or did you just choose to ignore it?"

"I chose to ignore it," said Gail, looking away from Holly and sticking her nose up in the air. "Was trying to save you from the embarrassment of going full nerd. You've ruined all my hard work."

"I apologize. Now, get up and get dressed lazy bones. Remember, we're going out on a pre-date today." Holly prodded Gail with her boot.

"Are you sure we're not just going on a date?" Gail smirked and finished the last of her coffee. Coffee she now knew there was more of at Holly's place. A place nearby. A place with a private shower. "And there is no way you're convincing me to get ready here when I now know you live close enough for me to shower in peace."

Holly studied Gail's defiant face over the mug she was sipping at. Gail wasn't sure if inviting herself over to the other woman's place was a bit much but she really, really hated the whole communal shower thing. Feeling like she had to cover herself in hand sanitizer after a shower was not a fun way to start any day. Before Gail could start to feel awkward enough to take the self-invite back though, Holly was tossing her backpack at her.

"Get packed then," said Holly. "Time's a wasting."

It only took about 20 minutes to get to Holly's apartment building and Gail knew from experience that it was only another 30 into the city. When they got out on Holly's floor and headed down a short hall to her door, Gail marveled at how nice the place was and how homeless she must look at the moment.

"Mi casa es tu casa," said Holly after unlocking the door and holding it open to let Gail enter first.

"Ugh don't tell me you speak Spanish, too. Aren't you perfect enough already?" teased Gail as she kicked her boots off at the door and headed further inside to snoop. Gail was like a cat. Curious and territorial. She needed to investigate this new place.

"I know that one phrase in Spanish and I am very far from perfect," said Holly as she entered the kitchen, probably expecting to see Gail, but she had already moved on into the living room.

"Says the woman who alphabetizes her movies, books, and CDs," said Gail, as her eyes moved around the immaculately kept living room. "And whose pictures are all hung with the careful professionalism of a serial killer."

Gail felt Holly pull at the straps of the bag on her back and let the brunette slide the bag off her arms while she inspected the pictures in the frames on the walls. A kiss on her exposed neck made Gail shiver and brought her out of her investigative mindset and pulled her into the moment. She was in Holly's place. Holly had invited her in and here she was. And it all felt very Holly.

"Come on, Detective Peck, the shower is this way," said Holly as she tugged at Gail's arm. She turned to look at the brunette who was just smiling at her and waiting. Gail smiled back. Then she tangled her fingers in the collar of Holly's shirt and pulled her in for a quick kiss.

It was like every time she learned something new about Holly or any time Holly trusted her with something, like inviting her to her home, Gail just ended up liking her more. This threw her for a loop too because it wasn't even like she had much in common with the other woman. Holly was so open and caring and honest and Gail was practically queen of everything the opposite. They liked different things and looked at the world around them so differently but Gail found herself unable to get enough of Holly.

"So," started Gail as Holly led her down the hall to the bathroom in the master bedroom. "About that coffee…"

"Would you like more of my fancy coffee, Gail?" Holly leaned against the frame of the bathroom door and watched Gail inspect her surroundings. The blonde ran her fingers along the sink and over the product containers on the shelves next to the toilet. It was a really nice bathroom and a really nice apartment in general. Not something Gail would be able to afford once she started the force. At least not at first or without help from her parents.

"You're so sweet to offer, Lunchbox," said Gail as she bounded over to the door, pecked Holly on the cheek, and then shoved the brunette out of the frame to close the door.

One pleasant shower later and Gail was walking out of Holly's bathroom feeling amazing and looking pretty good in a tight black tank top and a pair of dark green jeans. The sun burn that still covered most of her skin barely hurt anymore with the constant Motrin and anti-inflammatory cream she kept reapplying to herself. Sure she was still red and starting to flake but whatever, she thought she looked good considering. She slowly moved through the hallway, noticing a closed door she'd have to look into later, to the living room where she saw Holly curled up on the couch with her mug and a book.

"How is there still room in your brain for all the information you shove in there?" Gail threw herself down on the couch so that her head landed on top of the book in Holly's lap. Holly didn't say anything, choosing instead to push her glasses up her nose and smile down at Gail. "Okay, I'm all clean. Where we headed, doc? And where is my delicious coffee?"

"You definitely smell a lot better," teased Holly. "You're lucky I'm a med student. Anyone else would be completely repelled by the constant odor of hand sanitizer."

"Ugh, it was that bad?" Holly just smiled and nodded. Gail had hoped it was only her who could smell it. Oh well.

"I don't know if that says more about you or me," sighed Gail. Holly pulled the book out from under Gail's head and set it on the end table. She started to run her fingers through the blonde's shoulder length locks and moved one hand to the back of Gail's neck to massage the skin there. Gail closed her eyes and leaned into the touch.

"You mostly. Again, I'm a med student. Lesson one is pretty much how to stomach and disguise that smell," laughed Holly.

For a few silent moments, they just stayed like that and Gail couldn't remember the last time she felt so relaxed and comfortable with someone. There were a few times with Nick where she'd be cuddly and clingy but sometimes she felt that was just more about not wanting to be alone than anything to actually do with him. When you spent most of your life invisible to the people around you, it was hard to let go of being noticed.

"Come on, let's go," said Holly. As Gail pulled her boots on and tied them, Holly filled the mug she'd let Gail use with a new batch of coffee and the blonde graciously inhaled it. As they headed to the car, Gail grabbed Holly's hand and swung it energetically between them.

"Thanks for letting me use your shower."

"No worries," said Holly. "But you will be cleaning up my bathroom when we get back."

Gail looked over at Holly and narrowed her eyes. How did she know that Gail left the bathroom a mess? Especially after she rummaged through the container of make up for dark eyeliner.

"You're a very messy person, Gail. I can only imagine what my bathroom looks like right now," laughed Holly after clearly reading Gail's mind.

As Holly drove them to their secret destination, Gail was getting more excited and her heart wouldn't stop racing. She was going on a date with Holly. A date that Holly had asked her on. A date she knew nothing about. Okay that last part was actually more scary than exciting because Gail hated surprises but she still managed to stay upbeat about it. She was incredibly nervous. What if they went somewhere and Holly realized what an obnoxious idiot she was and just left? How would she get home? How would she get her stuff back from Holly's? How would she ever find someone as amazing as Holly?

Holly's fingers found their way in between her own and Gail felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest. The panic was still there but it was more like a low murmur than the crazed yelling it was a second before the contact. Gail stared down into her lap at their hands. She liked the way Holly's tan complexion looked against her skin and it was amazing how calming Holly was. Even just sitting next to her in complete silence she still managed to comfort Gail in ways she would never even know. Because, let's be real, who was going to tell her? Gail? No.

"Okay, we're here," said Holly, stroking her thumb across Gail's hand to get her attention. Gail hadn't even realized they'd stopped, she had been so distracted. She looked up and narrowed her eyes at the building. It was an ice rink. Of course, Holly would think a fun date would be something involving sports. She looked over at Holly who just laughed and rolled her eyes. "Don't look so grumpy, Gail. It's just ice skating."

Gail brightened slightly. She could do ice skating. Barely, but at least it was nothing involving sticks or pucks or bodily harm. Holly pulled a pair of ice skates out of the trunk of her car and Gail eyed the hockey skates that were also in there, along with the softball bag, inline skates, and pretty much every text book Gail had seen her read so far. Gail was amazed this woman had any interest in her at all. She played video games and lived off junk food.

They headed in to the building, hand in hand, and walked up to the rental counter that was along a wall to the side of the entrance. As they waited, Gail eyed the mostly empty rink. That was good. At least if she fell she wouldn't be embarrassing herself in front of too many people. It was a group of kids and a couple of adults watching from the bleachers. Probably some sort of 'learn to skate' class from the looks of it.

"Hey Holly, haven't seen you in a while." Gail turned toward the chipper female voice and found an older woman behind the counter hanging up a pair of skates with the ones that lined the wall.

"School," said Holly, pulling a face.

"Well, that's forgivable. Worried you were cheating on us for a second," laughed the woman. Holly must have noticed Gail's grip on her hand tighten slightly and looked over at her with a smile before turning back to the woman.

"Sue this is Gail. Gail, Sue," said Holly before turning to look at Gail with a reassuring smile. "I've been coming to skate here for, like, seven years now. Sue runs the place."

"Well someone has to while my brother sits on his ass," laughed Sue. Then she must have noticed Gail's complete lack of personal skates. "What size you need, sweetie?"

After Sue was nice enough to obtain a less worn pair of rental skates for Gail, they were sitting on one of the benches in the little side boxes Gail knew had something to do with hockey. The players sat in these or something. Nick used to tell her she was terrible at being Canadian because everything she knew about hockey she had learned from those ridiculous Mighty Duck movies. She would tell him she made up for it in her love for syrup.

"Here, let me tie these for you." Holly ran her fingers over Gail's hands and slipped the laces from her grasp. With the helpful yelps and glares from Gail, Holly made sure the skates were tight enough to keep the blonde from injuring herself but loose enough to still have feeling in her feet.

When Holly had her skates on she moved to the ice and stepped out of the booth backwards, offering her hand to Gail who nervously accepted. Gail hadn't skated in years. When Steve was younger he played hockey and if she went to practice with him she would skate around behind the goal while they ran drills. So, she really never learned anything except how to move forward. Meanwhile, Holly had obviously been born with skates on her feet because she glided backwards on the ice while pulling Gail with her like it was nothing.

"You really just like making me uncomfortable don't you?" asked Gail after their first time around the rink. "Hit the ball, Gail. Let's go ice skating in front of kids who are better than you, Gail. It'll be fun, Gail."

Holly laughed and moved so she was skating at Gail's side now. She laced their fingers together and just slowly moved at Gail's snail-like pace.

"Honestly," said Holly with a sideways glance at Gail's scowl. "I just like seeing what you'll let me get away with. Besides, I see you smile when you think I'm not looking."

"Ugh. Stop calling me out of my shit, Holly. It's really…" Gail couldn't actually think of anything to say because if she was being honest with herself, she loved the way Holly noticed these things. It showed how closely she was actually paying attention to Gail. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it's really it, and you need to stop."

They ended up spending more than a few hours skating around the rink. Gail was actually able to go at a decent pace by the end and Holly even taught her how to stop in a way that didn't involve careening into the wall. Best of all, she only fell a handful of times and the only person who seemed to care was Holly who would immediately skate over, make sure she was okay, and help her back up.

Holly headed to the bathroom while Gail went to return her skates. It was so weird walking again after spending the better half of the morning gliding around on ice. She put her skates on the counter and waited for Sue to come out from the back room. Holly had told her that it was where they sharpened the blades.

"Hey there, all done?" Sue picked up the skates and tied the laces together.

"Yep. Do I owe anything?" Gail was already pulling out her wallet when Sue waved her off and shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. Holly never brings anyone here," said Sue with a smile. "It's nice to know her only friends aren't books."

Gail smiled timidly and waved goodbye. She leaned against the wall outside the bathroom, closed her eyes, and shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. It had only been a little over a week since meeting Holly. How was that possible? How was it possible that she hadn't known this woman her whole life? Because even though they actually knew very little about each other that was how it felt. As happy as she had been with Nick, it was never like this. She would have never done or said half the things with Nick that she did with Holly and she was one mistake away from marrying the guy.

The door opened and Gail looked over at Holly leaving the bathroom and pulled the brunette by the sleeve of her sweater into her body. Holly smiled when she noticed it was Gail.

"Hi," said Holly with a huge grin, pushing herself further into the blonde. They foreheads touched and Holly nuzzled Gail's nose with her own. This was a very intimate closeness that Gail had never done in public before but she found herself being unable to stop. "Did you have fun?"

"Yep," said Gail, glancing from Holly's lips back to her eyes.

"Good, because I know you aren't a huge fan of…" Holly was cut off by a kiss. Then another. And a third one that became a much deeper kiss than intended and Holly clutched at the sleeves of Gail's jacket.

"I had fun," said Gail, smiling against Holly's lips.

A forced cough interrupted their moment and both women sheepishly looked over at Sue who was looking at them with her arms crossed. Gail could tell she was trying not to laugh and failing miserably at looking even remotely stern.

"Sorry, Sue," said Holly with an embarrassed smile before dragging Gail out of the building by the sleeve of her jacket.

As Holly popped the trunk and put her skates away, Gail walked around behind her and took the keys before hopping in the driver's seat and turning the car on.

"Excuse me, officer, you appear to be stealing my car," laughed Holly. She leaned on the open car door and waited for an explanation.

"The term is commandeering and besides, is it really commandeering if I'm waiting for you to get in?"

"No, that sounds like kidnapping," mused Holly. Gail playfully shoved her and Holly relented, getting into the passenger side. "Do you even have your license?"

"Yes. I just don't own a car," said Gail as she used her phone figure out where she was going and headed out of the parking lot. "Don't worry, Lunchbox, I've been driving since I was 13. Your textbooks are safe."

"Good," laughed Holly. "All of those damn things together probably cost more than this car."

"Gross."

Gail made Holly close her eyes as they got closer to their destination and the brunette reluctantly agreed. Before Holly, she had never really cared about impressing anyone she was with. She figured it was all their job but the more she learned about this amazing woman the more she found herself wanting to show the sides of herself that even she thought were a little cool. At the very least, she wanted to show Holly she wasn't just some useless spoiled brat who hated all things nature and cringed in the face of sports. She was totally those things but there was other stuff too. This was probably the worst idea Gail had ever had but she just told herself it was because she had never planned a date before.

"A gun range?" Holly looked at the building with a bemused look on her face once Gail stood her in front of it on the sidewalk and told her to open her eyes.

"You said you'd never shot a gun before," said Gail, more than a little nervous and shuffled her feet behind Holly who probably hated it. "And you keep showing me all the dorky stuff you like so…ta-da. This is what I like."

This was it. This was the moment that Holly would just walk away and delete her number and just never talk to her again. A gun range on the first date? That was definitely more of twentieth date type of thing or something.

"Interesting. Let's do it," shrugged Holly with a smile before pulling Gail toward the door and teasing her. "I can't say I'm a huge fan of guns but you're going to be a police officer so I'll forgive you for your love of such a barbaric device."

"Nerd," said Gail, feeling a lot better at Holly's enthusiasm.

"Yeah, but you like it," whispered Holly into Gail's ear as they made their way passed the shelves of accessories and gear. Gail was really thankful for her sunburn as they stopped at the counter to talk to the guy manning it.

Gail almost died laughing when Holly started asking the guy about their ventilation system while he pulled out the Glock 22 Gail requested and the ammo for it. The guy actually looked pretty impressed though and they ended up having a pretty lengthy discussion about lead poisoning and proper sound proofing. Gail brought Holly here to impress her and yet here she was watching in awe as this nerdy woman was having a very lively chat with a large, bearded fellow about proper ventilation.

When the conversation ended, Gail insisted on paying for everything since it was her idea and Holly finally caved saying she'd pay for lunch afterwards. When they were in the corridor before entering the range Gail could hear people already in the range so she pulled out the ear plugs she bought and the ear muff the guy let them borrow. She handed a set of plugs to Holly who tied her hair back before putting them in. Then Gail clapped the ear muffs over the other woman's ears and wiggled them to make sure they were on.

"Don't take those off so long as we're in there, okay?" signed Gail. Holly nodded. In the police ranges everyone would unload at the same time so you could remove your ear protection to talk but at civilian ranges you could end up with your ears ringing if you didn't double up.

Gail picked out a station near the end of the line, away from the other people, taking note of their basic features and clothes as she passed. Honestly, Gail wasn't a big fan of guns either. At least civilians having them. People were stupid and with stupid people came stupid accidents. She set the Glock down on the bench and went about loading the magazine and chambering the first round. Holly was standing right next to her in the stall and watching everything she did with acute interest. Gail smiled and handed a pair of eye protection to her before loading a paper target on the rail and sending it down the length of the range. She casually noticed that she put the target further out than the other people down the line. Okay, she might have done it a little on purpose but she knew she could make the shot easily in these controlled circumstances.

Squaring her shoulders and taking aim, she nudged Holly to stand slightly behind her so she wouldn't hit her when the gun recoiled. Lining up the shot and exhaling, Gail pulled the trigger. Ten rounds later and Gail was unloading the weapon onto the bench. Without even looking up she hit the button to bring the target back and shook her head to pull herself out of what she lovingly referred to as 'Elaine Mode', also known as 'Police Robot Mode'. Instead of looking at the target she looked back at Holly and saw the brunette staring, mouth agape, and brows raised. Just the look Gail wanted. Then she let herself see her handy work. Good grouping in the center except for a few stray shots but she caulked that down the having to compensate for the sight being off in the first couple of shots.

"I could do better," signed Gail with a shrug after turning back to Holly. She had readied the next magazine and set out a new target, closer this time. "Your turn."

"Or not." Holly laughed and playfully shoved Gail away from her. "I'm a nerd, remember? We run from danger and loud noises."

"It's cute that you think you have a choice," signed Gail before moving behind Holly and pushing her into the small stall. She wrapped her arms around Holly's torso and picked up the gun from the bench. Holly took the gun hesitantly and Gail thought it was incredibly cute that her hands were shaking slightly. So, instead of moving away like she had planned to, she stayed and rested her chin against Holly's shoulder so she could help line up the sight. Her hands moved the other woman's so it was holding the piece properly before moving Holly's index finger to rest above the trigger and then just moving to cup her hand from underneath.

Holly must have figured out that Gail was waiting for her to decide to go because she squeezed off a shot and Gail had to stop herself from laughing at the way she shut her eyes and held them closed. When Holly finally opened her eyes again and realized nothing terrible had happened, she slowly shot off the other rounds with Gail helping her stay put through the recoil. As the target slid up the raid to stop in front of them, Gail unloaded the gun on the bench. The blonde looked over to see Holly beaming at the target and Gail almost laughed when she saw how terrible the shots were but she stayed silent. Instead she just smiled because Holly looked so proud of herself for even shooting a gun and hitting the paper and Gail didn't want to ruin that.

A little over an hour later they were walking hand in hand out of the building and heading toward a deli that Gail had spotted across the street. She had made Holly shoot the gun two more times, once completely on her own, before she'd agree to leave.

"I have to say, Peck, that was pretty cool," said Holly.

"I'm glad you thought so." Gail opened the door for Holly and reluctantly let go of her hand. They ordered lunch and then sat down across from each other in a booth by the door.

"Let me guess," said Holly, opening the bag of chips she'd gotten. "You thought I'd hate it and just leave you on the side of the road, never to be seen again."

"Well." Gail self-consciously looked down at her food as heat rose in her cheeks. "Not to 'never be seen again'. There's still a couple more weeks of summer camp."

Holly smiled and ran her legs up against Gail's under the table making Gail's heart skip as she tried to swallow the knot in her throat down with her soda.

"I like you, Gail. A lot," said Holly, tapping a finger under Gail's chin so the blonde would look back up at her. "Thank you for taking me shooting."

"Yeah, sure," shrugged Gail, trying to play it cool while Holly smiled, seeing right through the facade. "No problem."

They ate in their usual comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company. Then Gail relinquished Holly's keys so she could drive them back to her place and Gail could clean up the mess the neat freak was sure to remind her about. It took maybe a few minutes to put Holly's bathroom back the way she had found it and she tossed her bag in the hallway next to her shoes.

"So, what do you want to do? We can head back to the camp or hang out here and watch something." Gail leaned her shoulder against the wall and watched Holly flip through the channels on her television. This moment was so stupidly domestic and it literally felt like they hadn't just been on their first date and these feelings simply dumbfounded Gail.

"I have a better idea," said Gail with a sly smile as she moved to stand in front of Holly who looked over the rim of her glasses to meet her eyes. Gail slowly moved onto the couch, straddling Holly and resting her hands on her shoulders. Holly tilted her head and smirked.

"I'm a fan of this idea so far." Holly's fingers tangled into the fabric of Gail's shirt and pulled her hips up to her stomach. Gail pulled Holly's glasses off and set them down on the end table. Then Holly laughed at her own joke before even saying it. "I'd like to hear more about this idea."

Gail ran her fingers up the side of Holly's face and turned the brunette's head so it was easier to kiss along her jaw up to her ear.

"I can think of something else I'd like to hear," whispered Gail before nipping at the ear lobe under her lips. Holly's hands tightened on the fabric of Gail's top, making her smile. She pulled back and moved up to Holly's lips, teasing her mouth open and pulling at her bottom lip. The moan that escaped Holly's lips sent a shiver down Gail's spine and she pushed her hips down against Holly's stomach.

There was no tent, screaming teenagers, or nosey counselors and even though Gail had only a rudimentary idea of what she was doing with Holly, her overachieving, quick study personality, was going to make sure they both enjoyed wherever this moment led.

And if Gail was honest with herself, she was really hoping the answer was Holly's bed.

Note: It just seems rude to leave this chapter here. K BYE! :D

Also! ROOKIE BLUE TONIGHT! COME ON, GOLLY! ;n;


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: If I don't post this now I will keep dwelling on it and thinking it's terrible. So, here you go. THE SMUT.

THIS CHAPTER IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Unless you work somewhere that lets you read smut. Then hey, good for you. You're living the dream.

"So, what do you want to do? We can head back to the camp or hang out here and watch something." Gail leaned her shoulder against the wall and watched Holly flip through the channels on her television. This moment was so stupidly domestic and it literally felt like they hadn't just been on their first date and these feelings simply dumbfounded Gail.

"I have a better idea," said Gail with a sly smile as she moved to stand in front of Holly who looked over the rim of her glasses to meet her eyes. Gail slowly moved onto the couch, straddling Holly and resting her hands on her shoulders. Holly tilted her head and smirked.

"I'm a fan of this idea so far." Holly's fingers tangled into the fabric of Gail's shirt and pulled her hips up to her stomach. Gail pulled Holly's glasses off and set them down on the end table. Then Holly laughed at her own joke. "I'd like to hear more about this idea."

Gail ran her fingers up the side of Holly's face and turned the brunette's head so it was easier to kiss along her jaw up to her ear.

"I can think of something else I'd like to hear," whispered Gail before nipping at the ear lobe under her lips. Holly's hands tightened on the fabric of Gail's top, making her smile. She pulled back and moved up to Holly's lips, teasing her mouth open and pulling at her bottom lip. The moan that escaped Holly's lips sent a shiver down Gail's spine and she pushed her hips down against Holly's abdomen and Holly actually had to break away that time to breathe. Gail quickly recaptured her lips and started moving in a painstakingly slow rhythm against the other woman's body.

The way Holly's body froze made Gail think she had gone too far again until the brunette's hands untangled from her shirt and gripped her hips, pulling them more desperately together. The friction they were creating was driving Gail insane. Then, Holly suddenly moved her hands to Gail's ass and lifted her, dropping her onto her back on the couch and sliding back into position between Gail's legs.

Holly rested her forehead against Gail's and even though meaningful stares usually threw the blonde off, she found herself unable to look away from the beautiful brown eyes meeting her gaze. Gail ran her fingers along Holly's jaw, down her neck, and along her exposed collarbone. And as Holly ran her fingers under Gail's shirt and grazed the underside of her bra it quickly became clear that Holly was watching her for any sign that she should stop. But Gail didn't want her to stop. Not at all. So, she teased Holly by moving their lips as close as possible without actually kissing her and moved her body against Holly's to recreate the previous friction between their hips.

"Let's go to your room," breathed Gail against soft lips. She was trying to egg Holly more quickly along without actually begging the other woman to just fuck her already. And apparently she chose just the right words because she was being pulled off the couch and toward the hallway. She was actually surprised when she was slowly lead down the hall to Holly's room instead of being thrown over her shoulder and carried off.

Incredibly turned on and starting to feel more playful than nervous, Gail bounded passed Holly into the room and jumped on the bed before turning around and beckoning to Holly with her index finger. The brunette smirked and pulled her sweater off, tossing it on the floor as she crawled into the bed and on top of Gail. They resumed kissing but this time more confidently as they worked on removing each other's shirts and then their bras. As soon as Holly's torso was free of the fabric, Gail pushed her back and eyed the other woman's figure.

Biting her bottom lip she ran her fingers down from Holly's neck, between her breasts, along her naval, and stopped on the button of her jeans. She looked up to meet Holly's eyes before smiling and pulling the clearly flustered brunette back on top of her for a passionate kiss. Popping the button on her jeans and pushing the zipper down, Gail slid her palm along Holly's abdomen and her fingers easily glided passed wet lips to find her clit.

The sound Holly made sent shivers down Gail's spine and between her legs, filling her with a very satisfyingly warm feeling. She used her free hand to palm one of Holly's ridiculously amazing breasts, paying extra attention to her nipple. Gail just tried to do to Holly what she knew she herself liked and figured she would just use all the noise Holly made to guess where to go from there.

"Oh okay, we're just skipping…okay…" gasped Holly. Gail could tell she was trying to breathe and smiled into Holly's lips.

"Doesn't really feel like you need any more foreplay, doc," laughed Gail, marveling at how wet the other woman was and how good it felt teasing her clit.

Holly moaned and kissed Gail a bit awkwardly, but very desperately, since she was trying to meet the rhythm of Gail's fingers with her hips while also holding herself up. As worried as she had been about being with another woman she realized quickly how easy it was to be doing this with Holly. It became even easier when Holly's hand joined hers in the tight jeans and she was being guided to keep up one specific rhythm she had tried a second before. Normally Gail Peck would have been a little insulted by the help but this was actually pretty hot and she watched Holly shut her eyes tight before burying her head in the space between Gail's shoulder and the bed. Holly was vocal indeed. Gail smiled and wrapped her hand around the body that had gone limp on top of her and kissed along the exposed skin in front of her.

"I have never," chuckled Gail, "heard someone squeak and scream at the same time."

"I did not squeak," breathed Holly defensively as she untangled her hand from her jeans. She pulled Gail's hand out by the wrist and proceeded to lick and suck both of their fingers clean. That left Gail a little light headed and she was fairly certain she'd be headed back to camp later going commando because her underwear were soaked. She tried to regain some composure by looking anywhere but the brown eyes and smiling face in front of her.

"You squeaked. You're a squeaker," said Gail, at least managing to get her usual tone back despite how fast her heart was pounding against her sternum. "It's okay, Squeaker. You're secret is safe with…"

Holly had finished with her hand and moved to pull Gail into a kiss.

"You taste good," mumbled Gail. Holly smiled.

"I bet you do, too," teased Holly and she quickly undid Gail's jeans and pulled them off with her underwear and dropped them on the floor. Gail could not think of a single time she'd ever felt so nervous about being completely naked in front of someone. Actually, Gail couldn't really think. At all. Because Holly was swirling her tongue around one of her nipples while rolling the other between her fingers and that pretty much shut off all power to her brain. Gail's train of thought had been derailed hardcore. No survivors.

Never really being one to be loud, Gail just sighed and arched her back up into Holly's body. But Holly grabbed her hips and held her down against the bed as she began kissing her way down Gail's body. Holly stopped when she was firmly situated between Gail's legs and looked up her body. She had caught the way Gail was watching her intently, the only movement being her heaving chest, and smirked. Before Gail could even think about forming the words to beg, Holly was dipping her head down and licking along the slit of her lips before pushing in and finding her clit almost immediately.

Gail was fairly certain that if Holly's neighbors were home they heard the sound she had just made. But that embarrassment would have to wait as she ran her fingers through Holly's hair to keep her in place. Not that she thought Holly would be going anywhere, she just wanted the brunette to know that teasing would not be appreciated at that particular time. Gail couldn't stop herself from squirming so Holly had to wrap her arms around the blonde's legs to keep her hips still as she sucked her clit between her lips and slowly ran her tongue over the sensitive bud.

Feeling Holly drop her old on one of her legs she wasn't shocked when she felt two fingers enter her but god did it feel good. She could feel how slick she was just from the other woman's touch and was honestly amazed she'd never thought about sex with a woman before Holly. Then again, she was also glad her first time was with Holly. She really, really liked Holly. Holly was pretty great. At least those were the only thoughts she could manage that didn't involve curse words and prayers to deities.

When she finally came she had to move her hands to the bed sheets around her because she was fairly certain she would rip out Holly's hair otherwise. As she rode her orgasm down and tried to catch her breath, Holly moved back up her body, except for her fingers, which seemed to still be slowly moving in and out of Gail. Holly leaned down and kissed Gail slowly at first, so the blonde could still breathe, and then deepening the kiss and slipping her tongue against Gail's.

"Hypothesis confirmed," laughed Holly when she pulled back. "You taste amazing."

"You are such a fucking nerd," breathed Gail. Her heartbeat was starting to spike again as Holly's thumb started to run along her clit. "A stupid, sexy, gorgeous, nerd."

"Maybe," swallowed Holly, suddenly looking nervous, and she moved her hand to rest on the bed on the other side of Gail. She looked tentatively down at the blonde with a coy smile. "But I'm your nerd."

Gail was fairly certain the smile on her own face was the single dumbest looking thing on the planet at that moment. But she would punch anyone who had the nerve to say anything. She pulled Holly into a deep, loving kiss, the smile still on her lips.

"I like the sound of that."


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: And now back to your regularly scheduled plot. Hahaha. I hope you guys end up liking where this story goes. And yes there will be more alone time with them later. Don't worry. But this story isn't plot-what-plot so bear with me. 3

Also, if you missed the chapter before this one (Chapter 15) then you need to check your filters and junk or something but the story got changed to M because of Chapter 15.

"I just don't understand why you got to take a whole day off to go mess around with Holly," whined Dov again as he threw a twig at a kid who was making faces at a younger girl.

Holly and Gail had originally planned on getting back to the camp the night before but ended up passing out in Holly's bed and not waking up until Holly's alarm went off that morning. They had a slow start getting ready because they kept kissing and touching and laughing but they had finally made it just as all the campers were getting up and needed herding around the grounds.

"Dov, there's barely 50 kids at this camp," said Gail, slowly getting annoyed at Dov's continual questioning. "How this place even counts as one is blowing my mind because I totally Googled Summer Camps before coming here and this is nothing like the ones I read about."

"The camp used to be bigger," said Dov. Gail was glad to have distracted him from the topic of Holly for a moment. "More strict. Then Doug and Tonya took over and they opened it up to teens with lower incomes and who wouldn't normally get to go to camp. They really just wanted to give these kids somewhere to go to get away from their lives, you know? They pay for all of it out of their own pocket. They pretty much just make enough money back to pay for the food."

"So, rich hippies," said Gail after a moment of eying her friend.

"Yep. Rich hippies. How else do you think my parents would know them?" Dov smiled and Gail grinned while shaking her head. She had met Dov's parents and they were the definition of hippies. Not necessarily the rich part but definitely hippies. "So, what did you and Holly do all day?"

"She took me ice skating," sighed Gail, realizing she couldn't get away from Dov's one track mind. "Then I took her to a firing range. Then we ate food. Then we watched dumb cop shows. That's it Dov. Whole day. Right there."

"What was the show called?" Gail looked over at Dov as they followed a group of kids into the cafeteria. He was smiling. While there really had been a show on, Gail had been much too busy between Holly's legs to even think about what the name of it was. Holly's continuous shouts of agreement with Gail's actions had been much more important at the time. They could have been watching the Spanish channel for all she knew. Gail narrowed her eyes.

"It was called 'Gail's going to punch you if you don't stop talking'." Dov and Gail turned to see Holly walking over smiling. Emily was with her. Gail couldn't stop the big goofy grin on her face.

"I hate that show," said Dov, moving away from Gail slightly and moving a hand in front of his crotch. "Especially the repeats."

The counselors waited for the kids to grab food before grabbing their own and headed to the table near the front doors like they usually did. It was easier to catch kids leaving when they walked right passed you. Holly and Gail actually stuck around instead of heading outside like usual.

"Whoa, you guys are actually allowing us to bask in your presence?" asked Dov. Gail could practically feel the distain in his voice. "You guys finally grow tired of just mindlessly flirting with each other?"

Gail rolled her eyes and looked over at Holly's face. While she was sure Dov couldn't see it, she could tell by the slight narrowing of Holly's eyes behind her glasses and the way she clenched her jaw that the brunette was not a fan of Dov's comment. To Gail it was just Dov being Dov. He had a way of teasing that sometimes bordered rude. Actually, it usually did. Especially back when he first found out she was a Peck. Although Gail really couldn't figure out what his problem was with Holly. Shrugging that question to the back of her mind for later, she reached over on the table and rested her hand on top of Holly's. She glanced up to see Holly smile down at their hands before turning her attention to her breakfast. Gail looked over to see Dov eyeing them and their intertwined fingers.

"What, Epstein? You got a smartass comment about me holding her hand too? Pretty sure I'm allowed to hold my girlfriend's hand," shot Gail with only a slight stumble over 'girlfriend' since even though they had established that they were something exclusive, they had never actually used the word girlfriend the previous day or that morning. However, she didn't want her friend to get out any other comment that might upset Holly.

Dov shook his head and focused on his own breakfast. Gail looked over at Holly to see her beaming back at her. She quickly turned back to her blueberry muffin, hoping her sunburn was still red enough to hide the heat in her cheeks. Soon, Andy and Chloe were joining them with who Gail assumed was the guy Nick had been covering for until the other day.

"Hey Gail. Holly," said Andy.

"This is Morgan, he got here yesterday after you guys left," said Chloe. Morgan waved and sat down next to Dov.

"What do you do for a living Morgan?" asked Gail. If he answered cop she was going to immediately hate him.

"I work construction in Toronto," said Morgan, running his fingers through his choppy brown hair. "We had a big project last week that had to be finished. So, my brother got Nick to help out. Which man, that was great because I felt terrible. I offered to volunteer for this thing because my son really loves this summer camp and I was finally able to get a summer off to come here with him."

"You have a son?" asked Gail. She actually found herself listening to this guy talk. She just wanted to know if he was a cop, not his whole life story. She blamed the calming affect that Holly running her thumb across her hand had on her. Stupid Holly, making her care about people. "You look 12."

"I'm 29. So thanks," laughed Morgan. "I think."

"How old is your son?" asked Chloe. Gail watched Dov grumble while poking at his eggs. Someone didn't like this handsome new fellow getting all the attention.

"Uh. He's 12. Accidentally knocked up my high school girlfriend," said Morgan timidly before smiling. "But it's okay because I love that kid more than anything."

"That's really sweet." Gail hadn't expected Holly to join the conversation. The brunette tended to let others just talk around her, only really joining in when she was actually addressed.

"So, how does your wife feel about you spending all summer hanging out here?" asked Andy before stopping a couple of teens from trying to sneak passed their table to the exit.

"Oh, I'm not with…um…" Gail saw Morgan's eyes flitter over her fingers interlocked with Holly's and the way the other woman's thumb was still rubbing across her knuckles. That seemed to comfort him. "My uh…my husband's pretty cool about it. He's away on business for a few weeks."

"That's good," said Chloe in her usual chipper, puppy dog tone. Gail really needed to look up that girl's pedigree. "That he's okay with it. I mean, I don't know if I could do a whole summer away from someone I loved without also being busy. I can be pretty clingy sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Dov laughed, suddenly much more comfortable with this conversation knowing that Mr. Construction Hottie was married to a guy. Chloe elbowed Dov and smiled down at her food.

"Who's mindlessly flirting with who now, Dov?" asked Gail with a smirk. Dov threw the wrapper of his muffin at her.

And from there it all went downhill. The one major thing Gail hated about kids was their habit to imitate the adults around them. So, some kids must have seen Dov throw the wrapper at Gail and thought "oh this would be a great time to create absolute fucking chaos" and they did. They drove the cafeteria into a state of absolute anarchy with just a bit of thrown food. None of the staff or counselors even had time to react before it was out of control. Everywhere there was laughing, running, and screaming. Kids hid under tables and some dashed for the doors. Gail and Andy immediately took after them, Dov and Chloe on their heels. Morgan and Holly must have stayed behind to help the staff.

An hour later and everyone was sitting in shamed silence in the cafeteria. Doug had to have Tonya address and scold the kids though because he couldn't hide his smile. Tonya set everyone to the task of cleaning up the cafeteria, even including the kitchens, saying that it showed disrespect to the cooks what they did with the food. Gail was sitting next to Doug and Andy on a fold out chair near the door when Tonya and Holly came almost running up.

Gail immediately stood up when she saw the looks of panic on the women's faces.

"What…?"

"We're missing two kids. A pair of 15 year olds," said Holly as quietly as possible. "We've done a head check four times now and Dov, Chloe, and Morgan are still looking."

"They're kids. They're probably making out somewhere in the woods," said Gail, but furrowing her brow at how worried both women still looked.

"The problem is that we've asked their bunk mates and…" stammered Tonya tears welling up in her eyes. Doug immediately stood and pulled her into his arms.

"Gail. They've been missing since last night," finished Holly. "Their friends helped them sneak out before the first round of bunk checks and covered for them this morning."

"So, we have two kids missing since 9 o'clock yesterday?" Doug sounded frightened. "We have to call the cops. Immediately."

"Done." Gail pulled out her phone and hit the speed dial on her brother's number. Detective or not she'd get a faster response from him than someone at a desk. Even if they weren't in 15's area he'd know who to talk to. As Holly moved closer to her and pulled at the pocket on Gail's jeans for contact she found Holly's hand with her unoccupied one and just prayed that Steve would answer.

Note: I said no drama for Golly. I didn't say no drama period.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: I take full responsibility on any mistakes in this chapter. I'm way more interested in getting my hands on 5x10 than editing. Will edit later.

A couple of squads from the local area pulled up around 10 minutes after Gail's call ended with her brother. While a couple of officers stayed to talk to the bunkmates, the rest of the officers went to help search the nearby woods. Gail stayed at the admin cabin to wait for Steve who said he'd bring some off duty guys to help. However, she started to get antsy after a few minutes and went to help Holly in the nurse's office. A couple of kids needed band aids and aspirin after the food fight. Holly looked up from a kid's knee when Gail entered and gave her a small smile. They worked silently and a couple of headaches, more for not drinking enough water than the food fight, and bandaged scrapes later, Holly was sighing and leaning against the desk. Gail watched her pull her glasses off and rub the bridge of her nose.

Neither woman really knew what to say to the other. They were both worried about the missing kids but since there was no personal connection to them it just felt like one of those situations where people were going to be sad no matter what. It was also likely that Holly was thinking about if it had been Emily. At least that was the impression she got from watching the brunette chew on her bottom lip. Not knowing what else to do, Gail pulled Holly's arms away from her chest and wrapped them around her own body as she snuggled into the other woman. Holly kissed the top of her head before bumping their heads together and pulling her in tighter.

Gail found herself thinking about how weird it was to go from hating sappy physical intimacy to actually initiating it. She chose to ignore it for now and closed her eyes for a moment. When she cracked them open at the sound of creaking wood, a gigantic smile greeted her. A smile attached to her brother. A smile she had the sudden urge to punch the teeth out of. Especially when she heard the shutter of his phone's camera go off.

Quickly dethatching herself from the warmth of Holly's body, she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Steve as he moved all the way into the room, closing the door behind him. Holly shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans and was looking at Gail, her face unreadable beyond the caring that was always present when she looked at the blonde.

"Was told you'd be in here since you weren't out front." His eyes shifted to Holly and he grinned a little too knowingly for Gail's liking.

"Have you found them?" asked Gail, deciding she'd kill Steve later. Holly might be more receptive to helping her get rid of the evidence if he was already dead. Steve's face changed from smirking at the picture on his phone to completely serious as he met Gail's eyes.

"They found the girl. She was knocked out by some rocks around the lake. No foul play beyond the headache she's probably got."

"Are you supposed to be telling us this?" asked Holly, more curious than accusative.

"Well, legally? No. You gonna tell?" Steve already knew the answer or he wouldn't have shared what he did but Gail knew he was trying to play detective with Holly. Figure out who she was.

"No," said Holly in that very matter-of-fact way she had.

"Cool." Steve turned back to Gail. "We did run into a small snag though."

"What?"

"The boy that's still missing. He's the son of a pretty bad guy. Murder, drugs, trafficking, all that fun stuff."

"So, probably kidnapping?"

"Looks that way. We're gonna do our detective stuff and try to see what's going on. Doug and Tonya are being filled in and the girl is headed to the hospital." Steve ruffled his hair.

"What about the camp?" Gail really didn't want to leave. Despite constantly feeling gross and getting sunburnt, she was actually having a lot of fun. Not just with Holly but also with Emily and Tim. Which reminded her that she still hadn't given the dumb little sculpture she made to Holly.

"Uh. It's going to stay open as far as I know. They might leave a uniform or two here or just increase patrols in the area. Until the girl wakes up and tells us what happened though, nothing is certain." Steve shrugged and slapped Gail's arm in some weird form of painful affection. Then he turned to Holly. "So…?"

"So?" asked Holly, meeting his gaze defiantly. Gail could tell she wasn't a fan of the investigative look Steve was giving her.

"I'm Steve Peck." He offered before extending his hand. Holly took it for a quick, firm shake but she didn't move from her spot against the desk. Gail was actually sort of loving this. The way Holly's body language was pretty much telling Steve to go fuck himself if he was going to be a prick.

"Holly Stewart."

"Considering the fact that I didn't even know you knew how to hug," said Steve, turning to his sister. "I'm going to guess that this stunning creature is who you wanted the wine for."

Gail narrowed her eyes at him before slugging him as hard as she could in the shoulder and snatching his phone as she flinched. Holly had a small smile playing at her lips as she raised an eyebrow when Gail looked at her. Ignoring the fact that she'd been caught out about getting the wine from Steve she quickly turned to the phone, sent the picture to herself and then deleted it and the message from Steve's phone.

"Jokes on you," said Steve as he grabbed his phone back. "I already sent one to my email."

Before Gail could jump across the room at Steve, Holly reached over and took her hand, lacing their fingers together. The blonde huffed and shuffled closer to Holly so their arms wouldn't be so stretched out for the contact.

"She saved you. For now," grumbled Gail. "I still know where you sleep."

"And I can probably guess where you sleep," said Steve, wiggling his eyebrows. Gail immediately grabbed the closest item to her, a bottle of aspirin, and tossed it at her brother. It hit him right as he tried to run out the door. A beat later her was sticking his head back in the door, grinning. "Oh, and I came to tell you that mom is on her way so either figure out your coming out speech or cut back on all the meaningful looks with Holly. She did used to be a detective."

Gail tossed a box of bandages at where her brother's head had been a second ago.

"While I understand your annoyance, can you stop throwing my medical supplies around?" asked Holly with a smile and quick peck on Gail's cheek. "He seems…fun."

"He's an ass," shrugged Gail, letting go of Holly's hand and moving to pick up the mess she made. "Not the worst brother ever but definitely an ass. If I don't get home to that picture being my desktop background I will be shocked."

"Mmhmm. So what'd you have to give him for the wine?" asked Holly as she sat down in the office chair and watched Gail bend over to pick up the last of the bandages that fell out of the box when she threw it.

"I have to go to one of my mother's dinners," groaned Gail. "Where I get to wear a dumb looking dress, get hit on by drunk old men, and be paraded around as the next line in Peck Policing."

"Sounds fun." Gail glared at Holly while getting comfortable sitting on the desk. "Sarcasm, Gail. Sarcasm."

"That's how not fun they are, Holls. Not even sarcasm can save them."

They sat comfortably in silence for a minute. Holly had rested a hand on Gail's knee and Gail had taken to running her fingers lightly over each other Holly's digits. This kind of touching felt much safer since they'd have more than enough time to move their hands if someone else walked in. It's not that Gail really cared that much about the PDA so much as this was a camp full of kids and any sort of PDA just felt weird around them.

"Um…so…I probably won't tell my mom about us," said Gail quietly. "I know it can be pretty awesome dating me. But I just don't tell my mom things. Telling her anything is like playing that mine field computer game. You might win every blue moon but it was probably just luck. Also, I tend to never tell her about any of the people I'm dating."

"It is okay, Gail," laughed Holly.

"I just want you to know that it's not because you're a woman."

"No worries. I'm not big on those conversations either." Holly leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. Gail could see how tired she looked. Which made sense because Holly had been helping look for the missing kids while everyone cleaned the cafeteria. It wasn't until the cafeteria was clean that she had to go back to the nurse's office. "Called my first girlfriend my roommate for a year. And that was after being caught with her by my mother."

"My mother found out about Nick because she bugged my phone for not answering a couple of calls." Gail actually started laughing at the memory. "She actually wasn't going to say anything to me about it until she noticed all the pictures I'd sent him while I was drunk one night. I got scolded longer for sending nudes than for having a secret boyfriend."

Holly just grinned and it made Gail laugh again. The blonde was about to bend down to kiss Holly when a knock on the door caught them both by surprised. Gail quickly moved off the desk to stand near it and Holly was sitting straight up and crossing her legs when Steve walked in followed by Elaine Peck. A very not happy looking Elaine Peck. A very not happy looking Superintendent Elaine Peck.

"Where were you when this happened?" Not even a hello. Not that Gail expected one. The attitude was making it really tempting to just tell her mom the truth about where she was though. And if she remembered properly, she and Holly had been imitating a really sexy number around 9 at night. She could sort of remember glancing at the clock once.

"I haven't been in charge of bunk checks my entire time here. I watch after a deaf 12 year old and her mother was here yesterday to look after her." Gail wrapped her arms around herself. Her mother always had a way of making random things her fault. Like she hadn't tried hard enough.

"That does not answer my question Gail." Elaine glanced over at Holly sitting behind the desk. "Excuse me, can you give us a minute?"

"This is the nurse's station. I'm the nurse," said Holly very resolutely, knowing that the superintendent would be smart enough to figure out she was very politely saying 'no'. Gail's heart fluttered and she could have jumped that woman right there.

"She's fine. She's my friend," added Gail because otherwise Elaine Peck was surely to see her tone as a threat. "She's the deaf girl's aunt."

Elaine looked over Holly for a moment and Gail couldn't tell if she was impressed by Holly standing up to her or if she was thinking about all the ways to get away with murder.

"I expect more action from you on this Gail."

"I'm not even a police officer, yet."

"You're right. You aren't. But as a Peck, I expect better. More diligence."

"I didn't know the kid the son of some big wig bad guy."

"You should have checked."

"Fine. Next time I'll get Steve to pull up in depth background reports on every single camper's parents," huffed Gail. She knew her mother got the sarcasm but Elaine usually chose to ignore the tone.

"That would have been a good start," said Elaine and before Gail could get in another word, she was gone and out the door lifting her phone to her ear.

Gail, Holly, and Steve just stared at the door for a minute. Each lost in their own thoughts. Gail knew that the way their mother spoke to them bugged him as much as it did her even if he was a lot better at taking it than her. It had honestly shocked Gail that Elaine had tried to turn this on her though. You don't walk into summer camp expecting kidnappings.

Finally Holly was the one to break the silence.

"What a bitch." Gail and Steve both snapped their attention to the brunette immediately, looks of complete shock on their faces. Meanwhile, she was still staring at the door. When Holly realized she'd actually said that out loud she suddenly looked really embarrassed and was about to open her mouth to say something when she found a pair of lips blocking her from talking.

Not even caring that her brother was in the room, Gail had jumped into Holly's lap and started kissing her. She stopped though when she heard the sound of a camera shutter again. Both women looked over at Steve.

"While disgusting. This will make for excellent blackmail," laughed Steve. He waved at them, Gail glaring and Holly smiling, and left the room.

"You should really know that you just gained yourself a background check, Elaine Peck style," said Gail as she got up and sat back down on the desk. Just in case her mother decided to come back for round two.

"Hmmm. What are the chances she'll see all my med school debt and pay it off?" Holly smiled up at her and traced her fingers along the seam of Gail's jeans. Gail smiled. She found it was always easy to do around Holly.

"Probably about as good as the chances that she won't figure out where I was yesterday," sighed Gail. She knew her mother would know most of the places she'd been yesterday within the next 24 hours.

"Well, there's only one person who knew where you were last night," said Holly with a smirk as she stood and slid closer to Gail. She moved a hand to Gail's neck and pulled her into a quick but very passionate kiss that sent Gail's heart racing. "And my lips are sealed."


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: Sorry this was late. I've been having sleeping problems. I hope this makes up for it. ;)

This chapter is rated M for Mature content at the end.

Uniformed officers were on site the rest of the day and a couple of parents decided to pick up their kids until the situation blew over. April showed up around dinner with an overnight bag saying that she wanted to be around in case she was needed and it felt wrong to leave her sister and daughter there. Gail's own family, well her mother and brother, went back to work. Her father had never really left work for any of this to begin with. There was no reason for him to do that. While Holly helped set April up in the bunkhouse with Emily's help, Gail helped Dov heard the teenage boys back to their cabin.

There were four main cabins for the campers. One for the teenage boys, one for the younger boys, one for the teenage girls, and one of the younger girls. The police wanted to talk to the teenage boys again since they were the ones bunking with the missing kid, Jarred Mackey, so they were being taken back to their cabin to hangout while the other campers were put in the cafeteria with a movie and indoor games. A couple of the guys complained but most of them didn't really care since they had video games and phones back in the cabin.

When the boys were all safely in the cabin, Gail and Dov headed to the bench behind the building and stayed to watch for runaways while the officers headed over.

"So, I've been thinking," said Dov once they were situated comfortably.

"Sounds dangerous," teased Gail. "You could hurt yourself."

"Ha. Ha. So funny." Dov rolled his eyes and leaned back before continuing. "I was thinking about taking a year or two off before Academy."

Gail looked over at him and took a moment to really examine her friend. Dov was excited about joining the academy. In fact, his excitement was the kind Elaine wished Gail had. She knew. Because her mother had told her so after Dov went on and on about how he wanted to be a detective at dinner once. Naturally, Gail hadn't invited him back over since then. She got enough slack for not being her brother. She didn't need to also be told to be Dov.

When Gail hadn't come back at him with some sarcastic comment he glanced over at her. She met his eyes before turning back to watch the cabin.

"Any particular reason why?" asked Gail. She pulled the little skeleton sculpture she had made for Holly out of her pocket and started to fiddle with it. While they had walked the boys over to their cabin, she had stopped by the art room to grab it from the kiln. Now the glaze was all shiny and it looked really cool. Even with all the craziness going on around them and the fact that the Mackey kid was still missing she was sort of excited to give it to the nerd later.

Right now, though, she just needed something to distract her hands. She was terrible at serious conversations but she could tell that's what Dov was looking for from her. She figured she could try to do that. The whole 'good friend' thing.

"I might go home and help my parents out."

"Dov, you can't stand your parents." Playing the good friend or not, Gail was still Gail and she still wasn't good with stupidity or even just stupid ideas.

"Yeah," sighed Dov, rubbing his hands together nervously.

"So, why are you really holding off on the academy?"

"I, uh. I'm not really graduating with you. I mean, I should be which is why I told you I was but I have to retake a year because of family stuff and I just…" Dov rubbed the back of his neck. "I might take it slow or I might just go home for a year and then finish. I don't know."

Gail nodded but didn't push for information. She couldn't even say she was shocked by this information. While she considered Dov one of her few close friends, they still weren't usually the kind that opened up to each other. Whenever one of them was upset they would just get drunk and beat little kids online at video games. If Dov wanted to tell her about his family problems he would. There was no need for her to inquire.

"Why'd you lie?" asked Gail. She wasn't even upset with him. People had their reasons for lying and from the sound of Dov's tone and the way he was acting it seemed like something bigger than the usual stuff she heard about. The 'I just don't know who I am and want to explore to find myself' bullshit she was so used to from her parents' friends and that she constantly wanted to say just to get away. Gail was honestly just curious as to why he lied.

"I guess I just didn't want that year to be real. And if I talked about it, then it became real." The blonde nodded. She understood that feeling if not the exact circumstances. Dov just sighed and slouched forward.

"It's okay, I hadn't actually signed up for this rotation at the academy anyways," said Gail with a shrug. Dov snapped his head up and she just shrugged at him when their eyes met. "You aren't the only one with weird family stuff, Epstein."

"We're friends, right Gail?" Dov was staring at the ground. Gail glanced at him while running her thumb over the contours of the little skeleton's clay skull.

"Not if you keep being weird." Gail saw the movement of his eyes rolling in their sockets. "But sure I guess. Why else would I be here?"

"To piss off your mom."

"Yeah, but Dov." She was going to win awards with the all the support she was about to give. "I can think of a million and one ways to do that without getting sunburnt and eaten by bugs. I could literally just bring a firefighter home. It's really not hard to piss Elaine Peck off. Not when you're her daughter."

"So, this thing with Holly…?"

Turning her head slowly she looked at her friend. While she had noticed Dov's obvious distrust of Holly she didn't think they'd ever actually talk about whatever it was that obviously crawled up his ass about her. She just assumed he sat on a magnifying glass weird and decided to blame the nerd.

"What does Holly have to do with us being friends?"

"All you've done is hang out with her this whole time. I get it, she's hot, but it really would be nice to see my friend. I was kind of excited to hang out with you this summer."

"Dov, we've been friends for over a year," said Gail. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt and leaned back. All this sharing was making her head hurt. "I've known Holly for a little over a week and we only just started with the whole "we" thing. I'm sorry if me realizing that I dig women has been hard on you."

"I didn't mean it like…"

"I know. But that's how it's coming across. Have you stopped considering me a friend since you started fooling around with Chloe?"

"No."

"Then look at that, we're still friends. I can still stand your company. How weird." Gail patted Dov on the back and got up. "Now if you'll excuse me. I need to go pretend I didn't just talk about my feelings and shower away the shame."

Dov laughed and shook his head while she walked away toward the female counselor's bunk just as the world around her started to darken. Passing two uniformed officers, Gail thought about how she would have to remember to hit him in the nuts later to make up for making her uncomfortable and thinking they weren't friends just because she really enjoyed hanging out with Holly. The blonde actually wanted them all to hang out together but the way Dov kept making snide comments and Holly's reaction to them she knew that wasn't going to happen until Gail talked to him about it. She'd have to remember to do that too. Maybe she'd tell him to lay off and then punch him in the nuts.

"Hey there." A pair of soft hands were over her eyes before she could walk up the stairs to the bunkhouse. Gail smiled when she stopped walking and leaned back slightly into the body behind her. "Guess who?"

"Han Solo?" Holly huffed behind her and turned her around so they were facing each other. Gail grinned as Holly pouted.

"You're not even trying," mumbled Holly sticking her bottom lip out and furrowing her brow.

"I don't know," said Gail, sliding a little closer to the other woman. "You look like a scruffy nerfherder to me."

The smile that spread across Holly's face made Gail's heart skip. Holly quickly kissed her on the cheek which totally helped make up for how embarrassed she was over her own dorkiness. They stood just enough apart that it looked like they were just two adults talking but anyone who knew Gail better would have seen the intimacy of the moment. Especially the looks the women gave each other.

"It's funny how much you pick on me for being a nerd yet here you are with more Star Wars jokes." Gail tried to hide her own smile when Holly laughed.

"Nope. It became cool a few years back to like Star Wars. You must have missed the memo because you were already a nerd," teased Gail. She started fiddling again with the little skeleton in her pocket. She had attached a little hey chain thing to the top of his head and was currently toying with the metal ring while contemplating whether she should give it to her. "Probably born a nerd."

It would be the single cheesiest thing she'd ever done in her life. Giving Holly that dumb little keychain. She couldn't even remember making anything for Nick when they were a thing and she was certainly never this nervous about giving him the crap she bought for him. She had been more nervous about the possibility of him giving her an STD. Gail swallowed hard and looked down at the ground for a moment. Then she tried to nonchalantly look back up at Holly.

This is no big deal, thought Gail. I am awesome, suave, super-hot, and besides, it's just some dumb keychain skeleton that looks like shit. She'll probably think it's totally dumb. You got this, Gail. Just remember, Pecks don't back down.

"I made you something." Gail pulled out the little clay skeleton and held it out, not looking at it or Holly. "I was bored and just thought you'd like it."

The brunette tilted her head, a small smile turning up one side of her lips, and took the little keychain skeleton. It was no bigger than her pinkie. Gail peeked over at Holly still trying to look like it totally wasn't a big deal. Like, she made people dumb clay keychain things all the time. It was so common place. No need for Gail to fear rejection. Right? Meanwhile, Holly was looking over the sculpture with curiosity and something else that Gail couldn't quite place. Astonishment, maybe? Holly turned it over slowly in order to take it all in and a goofy smile spread across her lips. Gail could practically see all her teeth.

"It's dumb. I know. I…"

Holly's soft lips silenced Gail's anxiety and then Holly's hand at the back of her neck kept her from running scared.

"I love it." Holly exhaled the words against Gail's lips and the blonde felt a shiver run down her spine and rest near her stomach.

Oh boy did Gail want to run scared. Notably so when Holly teased the blonde's mouth open with her lips and slid her tongue against Gail's. With everyone before, it would have been the numb feeling she got from kissing them, the empty feeling she got when they would touch her, and the way her heartbeat would remain at an even pace that would have sent her running for the hills. With Holly, it was like every problem was the exact opposite. Holly's lips were like getting hit by a defibrillator with no countdown, her touch felt like it was setting Gail's skin on fire, and just the way Holly looked at her could practically send Gail into cardiac arrest. Gail needed air. She needed to breathe but she didn't want to stop kissing Holly. Even though they'd already had sex, Gail was finding herself melting into this kiss like it was their first.

Their first kiss in front of the cabin.

The cabin when other people slept.

The cabin where Holly's sister was.

The cabin where people were awake and nosey.

Gail's eyes snapped open and she pulled away from Holly, quickly looking around her to the bunkhouse. She didn't see anyone in the windows but she saw light on behind the curtains and suddenly felt like they were being watched. It took a second for Holly to catch up and realize why they were no longer kissing and flustered disappointment covered her flawless face. It wasn't until she followed Gail's panicked expression to the windows of the cabin that she smirked.

"Come on," whispered Holly into Gail's ear.

Lightly pulling Gail along behind her, Holly directed them away from the cabin and that was when the blonde finally noticed Holly's shower bag slung over her shoulder. The brunette had obviously been headed to take a shower and had spotted Gail and decided it was more important to stop to see her. She grinned before becoming nervous again.

Gail couldn't pin point why but it mattered a lot to her that Holly had liked her stupid present and thinking about that goofy ass smile she'd gotten was sending her emotions on a roller coaster. How did she find someone as amazing as Holly? Hiding in a summer camp for that matter. And why did Holly seem to like her so much back? Gail could think of a million things to like about Holly and only a handful of things to like about herself.

The bathroom was empty when they got there since all the campers had showered earlier and then been corralled into their respective bunk houses. Security was understandably tighter after the disappearances. Even Gail was supposed to start helping with bed checks that night.

Holly pulled them into one of the inner most shower stalls, notably away from any of the windows meant to help vent steam. Gail raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Her heart was beating too loud in her ears to really form coherent thoughts. Holly tossed her bag on the hook meant for towels, attached her new keychain to one of the zippers with a smile, and pinned the blonde against the wall before resuming their kiss. They broke for a second and their eyes met.

"I really love it," said Holly with that big dopey lopsided grin Gail liked so much. A moment more though and her face became a little more serious. The look was still caring, just less toothy. "I've kind of figured out that you're not big on feelings and admitting you have them. But I'm really glad I met you, Gail."

"Such a sap," teased Gail. Pushing Holly off of her slightly and pulling her phone out of her pocket. Holly took off her glasses and deposited them in her pack as she watched Gail with a bemused look on her face but before she could say anything Gail smiled and put her index finger against Holly's lips to keep her quiet.

There were a couple things about herself that Gail Peck just never shared with anyone. Anyone. Her most used playlist was probably at the top of that list, next to feelings and dreams. Not even Steve had heard her 'Cheese Ball' playlist. She liked letting people make their own assumptions about her musical taste. As Gail flipped through her playlists to get to the right one, Holly casually took hold of Gail's hand and sucked the finger resting on her lips into her mouth before slowly pulling in the next finger. Gail froze as her breath caught in her lungs and she slowly turned to gaze at a smiling Holly, two digits between her teeth. Holly wiggled her eyebrows, biting down slightly.

Gail pushed the play button and stuck her phone on the bag so the speaker was sticking out but it wouldn't fall into the shower. The volume was just enough to create the smallest of echoes but not so loud that they had to be worried about someone inspecting the noise. As the stringed melody began, Holly let go of Gail's fingers and pulled her back into a kiss, nipping at the blonde's bottom lip. Holly ran a hand through Gail's hair and lightly traced the other down the blonde's chest to cup one of Gail's breasts through her shirt. She pinched slightly at Gail's nipple though the shirt and Gail had to actually stop herself from asking how Holly found her nipple that quickly. Now was not really the time for the science of lesbians. However, as soon as the singer's voice came on, Holly was laughing too hard to continue for it to matter and rested her head against Gail's shoulder for a moment to finish gasping for air.

"Kelly Clarkson?" laughed Holly. Ignoring the teasing tone in her voice, Gail just looked at the brunette in mock seriousness while singing the lyrics of the song. Gail might be terrible with feelings but she had ways to communicate the things she really needed to get across. Her blue eyes bore into the beautiful brown ones inches in front of her as she exaggerated the emotions in the song for comedic effect.

"You found me. When no one else was lookin'. How did you know just where I would be?" Gail poked at Holly's sides, getting the nerd to squirm and laugh. "Yeah you broke through all of my confusion. The ups and the downs and you still didn't leave. I guess that you saw what nobody…"

Lips were stopping her from singing anymore lyrics but both women were smiling into the kiss and Gail found herself not caring that she just made a total fool of herself in front of Holly. The brunette was still there. They were still kissing. No one had ran off. And, honestly, Gail was having fun.

Gail trailed her hands up Holly's body from her hips and pulled the brunette's top up and off before tossing it over the curtain rod. They slowly undressed each other and completely ignored the fact that both of them had previously taken part in inner soliloquies about not having sex at the camp, let alone in the showers. Holly quickly flipped the shower faucet on, letting warm water wash over both of them and then shoved Gail's naked form back against the wall.

"Wrap your arms around my neck," instructed Holly, kissing along Gail's jaw to her ear and pulling lightly at her earlobe with her teeth. Gail swallowed hard at the decisive tone in Holly's voice, not to mention the biting. All sense of the usual nerdy awkwardness was gone and Holly's voice was assertive and demanding. Gail almost immediately obeyed and let her mind wander for a second as to how far this newly discovered attitude of Holly's went. However, she was pulled back to the moment when the brunette guided one of Gail's legs up and around her thigh. Gail locked her leg there, curling it slightly against the curve of Holly's leg. Holly kissed Gail softly getting their eyes to meet and then sliding two fingers deep inside the blonde and running her thumb along her clit.

Gail gasped and bit her lip as she pushed against Holly's fingers, willing them deeper. They quickly found a matching cadence between their hips where each time Holly pushed up she was pushing her fingers into Gail. Meanwhile Gail buried her face between her own arm and Holly's neck to muffle her breathing. It was a bit depressing to know that she wouldn't be able to get Holly off without alerting the entire camp of what they were doing but Gail figured she could dwell on that sadness later when there weren't fingers pumping in and out of her and the lyrics to one of her favorite songs wasn't being whispered in her ear. Apparently Ms. Stewart also had a love for cheesy pop music and it was making Gail's stomach flip.

"All things fall into place, my heart it feels so safe, you are my melody, that's where you take me." Holly's breath against her skin as she sang along were having more of an effect on Gail than she cared to admit. "With you I get so high, lost in the crystal sky, you are this melody, that's where you take me."

Gail was so close. She pulled back and pressed her forehead against Holly's, looking into the stupid nerd's piercing eyes. Holly smiled and kissed Gail lightly, not lingering long, so her icy blue eyes stayed locked on hers. Gail's eyes shut involuntarily as Holly hit a spot that made her jump and the blonde tangled one of her hands into Holly's hair.

"Look at me." That assertive voice. Gail was listening. Or trying to. Trying her best to keep her eyes open. Stupid brown eyes. Ridiculous, beautiful, smile. Stupid Holly.

Another quick focus on Gail's clit and the blonde was over the edge. Her legs were shaking and if it weren't for Holly and the wall, she would have been crumbling to the floor. Holly kissed her slowly and passionately as she helped Gail come down and regain her balance. As soon as she could, Holly moved Gail under the water and started running shampoo through her golden mop of hair.

"Weirdo." Gail didn't stop her though. It felt nice having Holly's fingers scratching at her scalp. She actually pursed her lips and grabbed Holly' soap to start working on helping the clearly filthy body in front of her. Although the brunette was sure to ruin her fun and stop her from going anywhere fun with her soapy hands.

"Well," laughed Holly. "We have to at least attempt to make it look like we were actually in here to use the shower for its intended purpose."

It was weird how comfortable Gail was doing this. At least weird to her. Holly was obviously unfazed as she used the soap to give Gail a bubble beard and laugh at her own handy work. Seeing the look the blonde was giving her she pouted and tried to look offended.

"If you could see it, you'd laugh too."

"You are so weird," said Gail. Her face slowly breaking into a genuine smile. The only kind that seemed to cross her features when she was around Holly. Noticing the way Gail was looking at her, Holly suddenly started shuffling a little and smirked while going back to actually showering herself off. After everything that just happened, Gail didn't think she'd ever understand how Holly Stewart could go from biggest dork to sexiest woman alive and back within the span of minutes. She just smiled and shook her head at the bashful way Holly was watching her. "In a good way."

Holly met her eyes and smiled before leaning in and kissing Gail on the nose. "I really like my keychain."

"You might have made that a little clear," nodded Gail, still smiling.

Nope. It was pretty much official. Gail Peck would never understand Holly Stewart but she had realized that was half the fun of being around her. As they sang along to terrible pop songs, most of which were Kelly Clarkson, and finished showering, it was becoming clear to Gail that she'd hang around this woman as long as she'd have her. Even if she never figured her out. That kind of sure thinking was a bit terrifying for the skittish kitten getting her hair towel dried by an energetic book worm but at the same time it was kind of comforting for Gail. The only other thing she'd ever been so sure about in her life was the Police Academy.

She just needed to take the next couple of weeks to figure out when she'd actually go.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: Every time I write actual plot I almost feel bad. Almost.

New Update schedule: Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday

A week had passed and the Jarred Mackey kid was still missing. Steve kept Gail posted on what was happening though through text messages and the occasional call and the young girl, Veronica, that Jarred had snuck off with had recently woken up so they were just waiting for the drugs to wear off enough to get more lucid answers out of her. It sounded to Gail like Steve was really getting his nose into this. Maybe Guns and Gangs liked him a lot more than she had originally thought. But of course they did, who didn't love the special brand of ass-kissing that Steven Peck brought to the table?

"Glare at your phone any longer and it might actually explode."

Gail looked up from her phone to find a smiling Holly in front of her, two coffees and a paper bag like every morning. The blonde had been sitting on the top of their picnic table with her feet on the bench, waiting for her girlfriend while reading messages from Steve. Handing over a coffee and the paper bag, Holly moved to sit on the bench between Gail's legs. Once situated she wrapped her arms around Gail and nuzzled into her stomach.

"Gonna be pretty hard to finish your coffee like that." Gail was smiling and sipping at her own drink.

"I already finished most of mine in the car," mumbled Holly.

"I'm guessing someone had to run an extra mile again?" Gail smirked then pulled Holly's hair out of the pigtail she wore while jogging and started running her fingers through her soft, slightly sweaty, hair.

"Pretty hard not to when you sleep each night next to a gorgeous blonde."

"Hmm…yeah, I am pretty gorgeous."

Holly laughed and pinched at Gail's sides. Gail squirmed but just playfully tugged at Holly's hair for her to stop. As they sat there in their usual comfortable silence, the table shook with the presence of another person, then another. Gail turned to see April and Morgan sitting down with their own coffees. They still had a good half hour before they needed to help gather the campers up for their morning routines.

"You two should probably go shower while you can still get away with sharing a stall," said April, smiling at her sister's half hidden face. Holly stuck her tongue out at her from under Gail's arm.

"Sharing a stall? Cute. Very honeymoon," laughed Morgan. Gail shot him a glare. He quickly made his face very mockingly serious. "I mean, totally not cute. Very stoic. The stuff of heroes really."

Holly laughed while Gail just turned back to her girlfriend and her coffee.

Despite the constant worry in the back of Gail's mind about this poor Jarred kid, this week had otherwise been great. A little more stressful and scheduled than before the kidnapping, but Gail was pretty happy. She actually hadn't been this happy in a long time. Or ever. Gail and Holly didn't even get to see each other much throughout the day except for lunch. However the evening and night were theirs. They would talk, watch movies, and make out if they had the privacy. Then Gail would fall asleep wrapped up in Holly's arms. Thanks to April staying at the camp and taking over her sister's bunk, Holly had pretty much decided to move into Gail's which didn't bother the blonde in the slightest.

Ruffling all of Holly's hair into a mess, Gail quickly grabbed Holly's shower bag, which she'd brought with her to the table, and took off for the showers with Holly following quickly at her heels.

"For someone who detests physical activity, how do you keep beating me?" Holly bent over in the changing area trying to catch her breath.

"I hate working out. Doesn't mean I don't," said Gail. Which was very true. She worked out constantly before going to the summer camp and the only reason she still refused to get up and run with Holly was because she couldn't run on six hours of sleep like the brunette seemed to be able to do. When she wasn't at camp she had the extra time to work out. "I'm going to be a cop, remember? I don't plan on being one of those doughy ones who get made fun of for loving donuts. So, I work out. Peak physical health, being careful not to get sick or hurt, doctor's appointments, that kind of thing."

"But, honey. You do love donuts," laughed Holly.

"Yes, but other people don't need to know that."

Gail pulled her shirt off and tossed it on one of the benches before looking over and catching Holly staring, pushing her glasses up her nose. With a wicked smile Gail started taking everything off much slower and with exaggerated motions that involved arching her back a little more than usual.

"I know what you're doing," said Holly behind her. "And it's just mean."

"Yet, you haven't stopped staring," quipped Gail as she grabbed a towel, pulled the caddy out of Holly's bag and headed into the showers. Holly quietly followed her trying to keep her eyes above Gail's waist.

After finishing their shower, they shared a quick kiss by the bunkhouse before heading off to their respective duties. April had decided to hang around the camp but she was helping with the campers so Holly was still in the nurse's officer all day. However, Gail knew Holly didn't mind being trapped in the small room since Gail was always distracting her from reading when they were together.

"Ready for some super fun cooking today?" April caught up to Gail waking toward the kitchens with a group of kids following her.

"Um. So long as we're all ready to die in a fire." Gail was not one for cooking. She was more the phone dialing or drive through type. "I am not a cook."

"Hmm. Lucky for you, Holly cooks," laughed April. "She's pretty good actually."

"Are you trying to sell me on your sister? Because I don't know if you're noticed April, but I'm already pretty sold." When Gail realized what she had said she looked away embarrassed and only glanced at her quickly to see April smiling.

"Well, we will just try to keep you away from the fire, then. How about that?" Gail just nodded and she heard Emily laughing from behind her mom and looked around her to stick her tongue out at her.

Doug was actually the one teaching the cooking class and what Gail liked was that instead of teaching them how to make some ridiculous meal they'd never eat, he was teaching them how to cook the food they ate here at the camp. Food that these kids were more likely to actually try to cook for themselves at home when their parents weren't at home. Food she could learn to cook for herself if she paid attention. The bonus was that the kids got to eat whatever they made for lunch so they could show off to their friends what they did.

"I think you might be more interested than the kids," laughed April. Gail blushed and watched what Emily and Tim were doing to make homemade macaroni and cheese. 22 years of life and Gail never stopped to consider that macaroni was sold separately and you could choose your own flavor of cheese by just, choosing a different flavor of actual cheese.

"I don't really know how to cook anything that doesn't come in a package with instructions," muttered Gail.

"Your parents never taught you?" April was peeling potatoes for potato salad and handed Gail a knife to help her. Hesitantly, Gail took it and sat on a stool next to the garbage can.

"My parents taught me how to clean, care for, and shoot a gun. I can hunt, survive the wilderness for a night or two, quick fix a flat, ride a horse, and so many other random ass things that MIGHT come in handy in the line of duty." Gail tried to copy what April was doing but had to go much slower so she was careful not to hurt herself. "Would you like to know to take down a guy twice your size with just a metal stick? I can show you. Ask me to cook or do any house work and you're out of luck."

"Intense." April was watching Gail with a really caring look. It made Gail uncomfortable. She imagined that's the way mothers actually looked at their daughters rather than the look of bitter disappoint she always got from Elaine. "Very, very intense. Our family was nothing but hugs and sharing."

"Holly has mentioned the hugs," said Gail with a shudder. April laughed and shook her head.

"Yeah, Holly was much more of a sucker for it than me. But it's not like she was running around being the most adventurous teen to begin with. I'm pretty sure that her sexuality was the only secret she ever kept from our dad and her mom."

"What happened to your mom?" Gail figured if she was going to talk, she didn't want to be the only one sharing. "If you don't mind me asking."

"No worries. She passed from cancer." April made a face at the last word. An understandably disgusted face. "I was still pretty little so I don't remember too much."

"That sucks. Sorry."

"Hey, I said no worries. She lived a long, wonderful life. And I got a pretty cool little sister out of the second marriage so it's all good." April beamed at Gail and she couldn't help but grin back. It was so weird seeing siblings who actually liked each other as much as April and Holly did. Not that she didn't like Steve but they certainly weren't as close as the Stewarts. Although Gail wasn't even sure if Stewart was April's last name. Even so, the gene pool was weird. Gail liked it. "So, when are you…? Hey! Freddy watch it!"

A tall gangly kid, who the other kids called Bean Stalk had just knocked into Gail with a huge sauce pan while his brother Freddy knocked into her elbow which shoved her hand with the knife in it across her lap and other arm. She lurched forward and yelped, jumping up quickly and clutching her arm while the knife clattered to the ground. Blood was beginning to pool around her hand against her arm. She was bleeding a lot and quickly. Thinking as best she could, Gail grabbed a kitchen towel and covered her arm in it before dashing out of the kitchen door. She hoped she just didn't get blood on anything in the kitchen. Ruining lunch for everyone would suck more than the pain shooting through her arm and the way her eyes kept losing focus.

As Gail fell to her knees just outside the back door to the kitchen pushing the cloth against her arm to stop the bleeding, April shot through the door and quickly ran up to her. April pushed her onto her back and elevated her arm above her heart to slow the blood flow. Then she pulled out her phone and hit a speed dial number before pulling off her own belt to tourniquet off Gail's arm. Doug must have stayed inside the kitchen to keep track of the campers. This was probably not his favorite summer, Gail thought with a small laugh.

"Holly get to the cafeteria. Kitchen accident with a knife. Gail got cut. It's pretty deep." April hung up and the phone back in her pocket before tying off the tourniquet and returning to keeping pressure on Gail's arm. "Gail sweetie, you have to keep your eyes open. Stay here with me."

Until she heard those words, Gail hadn't even realized she'd been trying to close her eyes.

"Holly's going to be here in a second. You want to see Holly you have to keep those beautiful blue eyes open. I know you haven't lost too much blood yet, you should be fine." Gail nodded slowly. She really wanted to see Holly and she hadn't even noticed how everything seemed to be fuzzy around the edges. But she couldn't tell if it was from blood loss or the searing pain shooting through her body from her wrist. As she forced her eyes open once more she saw Holly's face appear above her. Worry seemed to be etched into the lines of her face. Until she met Gail's eyes. When their eyes met, she smiled. And when Holly smiled, Gail found herself smiling back. Momentarily forgetting all about the entirely exaggerated possibility of bleeding to death.

"Sunburn wasn't enough for you?" teased Holly, concern choking her words. Gail wasn't pay attention to anything else happening around her. She just watched Holly. The way her lips moved when she spoke, the way her brow furrowed when she focused, and the way her eyes glistened with the hint of tears.

"Needed a cool scar."

"Yeah?" Holly's laugh sounded strangled like she was fighting something back as she continued working on getting the bleeding of Gail's arm under control. "Good plan. Chicks totally dig scars."

"Do you?"

"Do I dig scars?" Gail nodded. Holly met her eyes. "I dig you. Scars and all."

Then Holly paused for a long moment to inspect the work she'd done of getting the bleeding to stop and then addressed April. "Help me get her up."

"So, what's it look like?" asked April as the two women got Gail onto her feet with her good arm wrapped around Holly's shoulder.

"I could stitch it up but I'd much rather get her to the hospital and let them do it," said Holly. As if silently agreeing on a decision, Holly and April got Gail to the parking lot and into the backseat of Holly's car.

"No hospital," muttered Gail. She hated the hospital. A lot. They gave shots at hospitals. They'd probably think up some bullshit 'you stabbed yourself' reason to give her a shot. Or twelve.

"Yes, hospital," said Holly before bending down to plant a quick upside down kiss on Gail's lips.

"Fine." Gail closed her eyes.

"Keep your eyes open, baby. And keep your arm up. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Holly hopped in the car and took off as quickly as she could without outright speeding and putting the lives of others in danger. Gail could feel the car moving and see the sky passing quickly overhead. But mostly she just felt the stabbing pain in her wrist. It was sending massive pain signals all across her brain and it was making her whole body feel like it was hurting.

"Why me?" Gail wiped her uninjured hand over her face before reaching between the driver's and passenger's seat to grip a handful of Holly's sweatshirt.

As Holly pulled into an empty spot at the hospital and helped Gail out of the car, the blonde realized why she felt lighter and started patting down her pockets. "Holly. I don't have my phone. Where's my phone? Holly, I have texts from Steve about Mackey on my phone. I need that phone."

"Calm down. Gail." Holly gripped both of Gail's cheeks in her hands and forced blue eyes to meet hers. "I'll text April. She'll look. I need to make sure you're okay first. Please, let me make sure you're okay."

Gail quieted down and wrapped her uninjured arm around Holly's shoulder and let herself be led into the emergency room. She was taken immediately back to a bed where she was given something for the pain and then stitched up by a kid who barely looked old enough to be outside alone let alone working in a hospital on living, breathing, human beings. Holly watched him like a hawk, biting at her lower lip and pushing her glasses up whenever they slid down her nose.

"Lucky for you nothing major was severed but it did manage to hit the artery," said the child-nurse. "You should have pain free use of your arm again once the wound has started healing closed."

"You're so pretty," said Gail, ignoring the 5 year old sewing her closed and focusing on starring at her girlfriend. Holly shook her head and looked at Gail, an amused twitch at the corners of her lips.

"I take it the pain meds kicked in?" Holly looked little relieved knowing that Gail wasn't in pain.

"I would say so. Especially since I can no longer feel butterfingers over here try to stitch me closed like a burlap sack." Holly had to hold in a laugh as the nurse glared up at Gail and his face curled into a slight scowl.

"I'm sorry. She doesn't mean it," said Holly to the guy. Gail realized that Holly would probably be doing exactly what he was doing soon enough and it would be her beautiful, happy Holly who had to deal with dipshits like her.

"Yeah. Sorry," muttered Gail. Holly smiled down at her and took Gail's uninjured hand with one of her own. Gail looked her over and saw her blood dried onto various spots of Holly's clothes and frowned but before Gail could apologize for being such an uncoordinated idiot, Holly's phone went off and she was answering it. Gail watched the way Holly spoke. The brunette's feelings slid from casual interest to worry, before looking down and meeting Gail's eyes causing Gail to furrow her brow. Holly look downright scared. She pulled the phone away from her ear for a moment.

"That was April. Dov found your phone tossed in the trash. All the messages from your brother about Jarred and Veronica have been forwarded to some random number."

Gail sat up, and grabbed Holly's phone. The other woman didn't even try to stop her. Although the nurse trying to stitch closed Gail's arm looked ready to go off on her with the new movement but thought better of it at the shake of Holly's head. Gail was actually being incredibly cooperative all things considered and she called an apology into the mouthpiece before hanging up the call and dialing Steve's number through the building haze of oxycodone.

"Steve Peck, may I…?"

"Steve. You were right. One of the kids got ahold of my phone and forwarded the messages." The look of confusion on Holly's face was priceless. Gail was actually tempted to use Holly's phone to take a picture of it. "I'd say the Baker brothers and I'll explain to you why when I'm not hopped up on oxy at the hospital and trying to figure out if my nurse has graduated elementary school yet."

"Hospital? Are you okay?" Steve actually sounded concerned. Their ploy to bait the suspected kids into taking her phone worked but he probably didn't mean for it to end up in her getting hurt. Especially since, Peck of not, she was still a civilian. However, the Pecklings had planned this out the day after Elaine shared her insane idea of running background checks on everyone. Gail had actually realized that the idea was perfect in this case because who else would know the kids where there except the other campers? Say one kid recognized another kids name, it was easy to text their family the new info. And luckily Steve had noticed a couple of kids who were in rival gang families from Jarred and he insisted on pursuing them as leads. So, Gail had spent the past couple of days talking rather openly with all the counselors and staff about her awesome detective brother who was heading up the case. Holly had no idea what had been going on because she had been in the nurse's office the whole time.

"I'm fine. I'm with Holls."

"Okay. Just, be safe Gail and my guys will be up there soon. Who has your phone?"

"Dov."

"Got it. Pass the phone to Holly." Gail looked at the phone suspiciously hoping her brother could feel that look. Then she handed the phone to Holly who cautiously held it up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Take care of Gail, okay?"

"I'll take care of her. I promise." Holly smiled softly at Gail as the blonde started to pet the nurse's head, clearly scaring him.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: A day late but still good.

When Holly turned the key in the ignition, Gail immediately started playing with the radio. Everything felt kind of great at the moment because of the painkillers she'd been given so she wanted some kickass beats to go with the hurt-free euphoria. After she finally settled into a song she reached over and pulled Holly's right hand into her lap. Holly smiled and shook her head, not taking her eyes off the road. There was only one other time that Gail could remember where she had to take painkillers and she had spent the rest of the week clinging to Steve's arm. Poor Holly. She wasn't ready for the amount of cling she was about to experience.

"Do you want to go hang out at my place? Get you away from all the kids while you're like this?" Holly squeezed Gail's hand. "I'm sure Doug wouldn't mind."

"Let's ask him. And can we get my stuff if he says yes? I can do my laundry at your place."

"You mean, I can do your laundry. You're not using any of my appliances while high enough to start petting residents at the hospital."

"What? I only pet one nurse. ONE. He was doing such a good job for a five year old. He needed to know."

"I've told you at least six times now, Gail," laughed Holly. "He was a resident. Not a nurse."

"Resident… Nurse…"

"Not the same thing." Holly sent Gail a look that, even through the oxy haze in her brain, told her to stop talking.

"Yes ma'am. Resident. Not nurse. Not the same thing," grumbled Gail. Holly grinned at Gail as she slumped down in the chair and pouted. The blonde was staring at Holly's hand, tracing the digits with her index finger.

As they pulled up the camp, April went jogging up to the car as soon as she spotted it, Emily was following close behind. April opened the passenger side door once they were parked and helped Gail out and Emily waved. Gail smiled and then looked down at her arm when she realized it was much too painful to even think about moving her fingers to sign. Those muscles did not want to pull at the stitches holding her arm closed. Holly saw the distress on the blonde's face and quickly interrupted the moment.

"Hey, Emily. You're going to have to work really hard at lip reading with Gail, okay? She won't be able to sign again until her arm feels better."

"That's okay. I've already been working on it whenever Mom and Sunshine talk. They think they're being sneaky talking about you without signing. It's pretty funny," signed Emily.

Holly looked from her sister to her girlfriend with a raised eyebrow. April bashfully looked away while Gail was just stared off into the distance as if she hadn't been paying attention at all. And she hadn't. There was a squirrel in a tree that was the most fascinating thing in the world at the moment.

"Hey, Pale Gail!" Gail jerked her head over to see Steve running up to them from the admin building. "Mom's here. She wants to see you."

Gail immediately dropped Holly's hand and stepped away from her. More self-consciously than with any attempt to actually distance herself. Holly didn't know but she used to do the same thing if she and Nick were touching and Elaine appeared from the nether realm. Hell there were times when she and Dov were just playing video games and she would practically move to the other side of the room if her mother showed up. Besides, Gail moving away from Holly was more like stumbling slightly away from her and she had to grab the door for support. Whatever the hospital gave to her seemed to be kicking in harder since she stood up.

The Stewarts all noticed the change in Gail's closeness with Holly immediately but Holly just shrugged at her sister when April looked to her questioningly. Gail hoped they didn't hate her for the small action. It really was just reflexive after 22 years of life with Elaine. Steve broke the tension slightly when he clapped a hand on Gail's back and started pushing her toward the admin building but thinking about facing Elaine alone was making Gail's heart race and not in a good way like Holly did. She moved out of Steve's grasp and stood timidly in front of Holly, staring at her collarbone.

While Holly just looked at Gail curiously, the blonde looked up at Holly's face for a second before moving her eyes to her hand. She awkwardly reached out and grabbed it with her uninjured hand. If Gail had to deal with Elaine Peck while higher than a cloud she was going to need something to keep her at a reasonable altitude. Holly did that for her. She wondered if Holly knew that she did that for her. She should probably tell her. Some other time, though, when there was no Elaine.

"You sure?" asked Holly quietly.

"I can't…" Gail shook her head but that just made her dizzy and Holly reached out to steady her. "I can't deal with her right now. Not like this. Come with me, please?"

In the admin building Doug, Elaine and a few uniforms were talking while the Baker brother sat in handcuffs on the bench by the door. When Elaine spotted Gail she signaled to the officers to take the boys and go. Once they were gone, and Doug bowed out saying he'd be back in a few minutes, the room fell quiet and Gail stared at the collar of her mother's crisp, white shirt. Elaine was standing behind the counter, eyes moving slowly over her daughter's face then down over her bandaged arm. Then the superintendent was looking at Holly. A woman, who once again, was intruding on a Peck family moment. A woman she probably already knew everything about via good ol' fashioned "misuse of police resources".

"As far as I can tell this isn't the nurse's office and there is no need for you to be here," said Elaine. Despite the sting her words held Holly didn't flinch. Or move.

"I asked her to be here," said Gail, still not looking up from her mother's neck. Elaine was silent a moment. She couldn't see through her son or she would have seen Holly squeeze Gail's hand and run her thumb over her skin.

"Fine," snapped Elaine. She turned to Steve and shook a file in his direction before tossing it on the counter between them. "Did you know that both of those boys have prior assault charges? With deadly weapons?"

"Yes," said Steve. He shuffled where he stood. "That's why I decided to focus on them after Gail told me to run background checks on everyone."

Elaine looked at Gail and pursed her lips. She probably hadn't actually expected Gail to do the background checks. However, Gail was barely in the conversation, going in and out of focus on the words. Both of Holly's hands were wrapped around her uninjured one and she found herself focusing on how warm they felt. She was also finding it increasingly hard to stand on her legs and started to press into the body next to her.

"And you decided that your baby sister, who is still a civilian at the moment, was the best chance at getting to them?"

"Gail offered. Also, April Stewart, who was talking to Gail when it happened, said that Gail wouldn't have gotten hurt if she hadn't been peeling potatoes with her for the campers cooking lessons. The kids had no access to any of the cutlery." Gail looked at her brother. He actually seemed like he was on her side. Which, wow that was new. "There was no assault beyond knocking into Gail with the pot so they could grab her phone. It was just a terrible accident."

"So, it doesn't bother you that your sister cut her arm open while helping in an operation that should have been carried out by officers in order to catch a couple of kids who may or may not even have any information regarding this missing kid?"

"Of course it bothers me that she got hurt," said Steve. "As stubborn as she can be I would have never let her do more than I thought she could handle."

Wait. Wait a minute. Gail shook her head. This couldn't be right.

"Whoa. Hold up. Wait," said Gail. Everyone looked at her. "Are you seriously mad at Steve right now? You're not mad at me? I'm good?"

"Of course I'm mad at Steve," snapped Elaine. "He should not have brought you in on this."

"It was my idea." Gail laughed. Of course the one time Elaine Peck decides to defend her instead of her brother she's too high to fully enjoy it. "And you're the one who wants me to be a cop. This is the kind of shit cops deal with. You know, bang-bang, stab-stab. Sort of in the job description. A kitchen accident is nothing. Pffft. Easy-peasy. And now I'll have a cool scar and I can tell people I fought off a bear."

Gail lifted her injured arm in the air and waved it about slightly. Holly's grip tightened on Gail's hand for a moment and the blonde could hear the small sigh. Probably wasn't the best time to shove in your new girlfriend's face that your future career is very dangerous and worse things tended to happen besides kitchen accidents.

"Look," started Gail. "I can barely stand right now, let alone deal with this, whatever this is. So, the beautiful and wonderful Holly is going to take me to her apartment and we're going to watch dumb movies and she's going to be super nice and wash my clothes and probably make me dinner. I will call one of you when I'm no longer higher than a kite."

Gail looked between her mother and brother before pointing slightly to Steve. "That one. I will probably call that one."

Steve smiled and rubbed his sister's arm because she was obviously out of it. The fact that she was still standing was honestly amazing Gail. She offered a small wave before Holly helped lead her to the door. As Holly held the door open for Gail to go through, Elaine naturally had to make sure to get in the last word.

"Congratulations on all the residency programs you were accepted into Stateside, Miss Stewart." Gail stopped and turned to see Holly looking at Elaine like a deer caught in the headlights before her brown eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched. "Not even finished with medical school and people are already clamoring to get their hands on you. It would pain me to see you waste such potential."

Since meeting Holly, Gail had only seen small glimpses into Holly's more negative moods. However at that moment, Gail couldn't remember seeing her ever look so pissed off. Not even when Dov called Gail Casper.

"Thank you for your concern, Superintendent Peck, and also your congratulations. However, I think I know how to decide what is and isn't a waste of my potential."

At that, Holly shut the door and practically marched Gail to the cabin to get her stuff. Somehow Gail managed to keep up with her without tripping and as they got closer to the cabin they saw Doug walking toward them.

"Hey, Gail. You okay?" Gail stopped and Holly stopped with her, holding the blonde's arm to help her stay up.

"Yep. All good. A bit up in the air though. They were obviously handing out the good drugs today," laughed Gail.

"Well, why don't you take the rest of the day off? Come back tomorrow if you feel up to it. I can have you man the admin building and Tonya and I will cover your campers."

"Thanks, Doug." Gail reached over and hugged the big hippie, glad that he didn't smell like most of them. He seemed very taken back by her sudden show of physical affection. "That sounds great."

As Gail waved a very confused Doug off she looked over at Holly who still looked furious. This was confirmed when inside the bunkhouse because Holly started haphazardly throwing Gail's stuff in a bag along with some of the brunette's own things. The other woman was clearly seething in anger.

"Holly? Are you…?" Gail plopped down on the bed and leaned against the wood of the frame.

"She's your mother, Gail," said Holly as if they'd been having a conversation this whole time and Gail was only just now joining in. "She's your mother and do you know what she was hinting at?" Gail shook her head. She barely knew where she was. "She basically just told me that the place I pick my residency should be more important to me than you. How can a mother think that about her own daughter? How can a mother want someone else to think like that about their own daughter? She obviously figured out we're more than friends. She obviously knew it would get to me. She obviously ran that stupid background check like you said she would. And I won't even be doing my residency for another fucking year. I only applied as part of a stupid school assignment."

Holly pushed her glasses up her nose and pushed her hand, palm down, toward the floor in front of her while taking a deep breath. It was like she was trying to push her anger back down. Gail didn't quite understand what she was talking about because half of what Holly and Elaine had said had gone in one ear and out the other but she didn't like how pissed off her mother had made Holly. Why did Elaine have to try to control everyone she talked to?

The next time Holly walked by Gail, the blonde grabbed her arm and tugged her over. Holly sighed heavily and let herself be dragged to her knees in front of her girlfriend. Tears were stinging at Holly's eyes and that made Gail's chest feel tight. Gail held Holly's face between her hands, and stroked the cheek that was under her good thumb while she used the bandage on her other palm to wipe away the other tears. Brown eyes watched her patiently and Gail calmly waited for Holly's breathing to return to normal. Then the blonde smiled and leaned in to kiss her. It was just a sweet, quick kiss but, like always, it left a trail of fire down her spine.

"I really don't know what just happened, so you'll have to explain it to me later especially all the residency stuff. However, I do know that my mom made you mad and I'm sorry." Gail kissed her again. Then again. Sweet little kisses that were making Holly smile which was all Gail wanted. Ever. There was actually nothing more in life she wanted than to make Holly smile. "You're a very wonderful person Holly Stewart. And you stand up to my mom. No one ever stands up to my mom. Nick didn't stand up to her. Steve. Our dad. No one. I don't even stand up to my mom. I go behind her back and wear lots of dark clothes and make up, bleach my hair, and almost marry guys who think motorcycles and old people music are cool, but I never stand up to her. So, thank you for being you. You're pretty great."

"Why do I feel like I'm only getting this speech because of the drugs?" laughed Holly, but Gail could see the flush to her cheeks.

"I won't lie. The drugs are really helping with the whole talking thing." Another kiss. "But I still think these things, Holly. All the time."

"What things?" Holly's voice was barely a whisper. Gail smirked. Holly was obviously not about to pass up the opportunity to hear more of what Gail thought about her.

"Lots of things," said Gail. She rested her good arm on Holly shoulder and dropped the other to her own lap. Holly moved her hands up Gail's thighs to her sides, pushing the fabric of the blonde's shirt up slightly and resting her hands there. "Maybe I'll tell you back at your place."

Holly smiled and got up, pulling Gail with her, and threw the duffle bag over her shoulder. It had all of their dirty clothes in it and Gail's laptop. Wrapping one arm around Gail's waist to keep her steady they headed back to Holly's car. They were sure to take the slightly longer trail away from the admin building. In the car, Gail managed to buckle herself in and smiled proudly over at Holly who chuckled at her triumph.

Gail was half asleep when they made it to Holly's and even though she remembered parking she could barely remember how they got to the apartment. With a little shake of her head she found herself sitting on a couch, holding a sandwich in her injured hand and a painkiller in the other. Holly stood in front of her with a glass of water. Knocking back the pill and a mouthful of water, Gail smiled up at Holly who grinned that lopsided grin of hers. Gail handed her the glass and then grabbed a handful of Holly's shirt, pulling her down into her lap.

"You couldn't let me put the glass down first?" asked Holly as she reached over to set the glass on the closest end table. The blonde shook her head while chewing.

"Nope." Gail pulled Holly into a kiss before breaking away and taking another bite of the delicious turkey sandwich.

"That's cute," laughed Holly as she fixed her position so she was straddling Gail and not putting as much weight on her as before. Gail took another bite of sandwich while running her hand over Holly stomach through her shirt. "You can't decide between me and the sandwich."

"It's a really tough decision." Gail pulled Holly in for another kiss. "You both taste really good."

A sly smile crossed Holly's lips.

"Okay smooth talker, what other things do think about me?" Holly leaned her elbows on Gail's shoulders and started playing with her hair. There was just enough room between them for the sandwich and Gail was very thankful for that. For a moment though she wondered if maybe Holly was hungry too and tilted the food toward her mouth. The brunette took a bite and smiled. "Thank you."

"I see your plan, nerd." Gail jokingly narrowed her eyes and prodded Holly in the stomach. "Get me all drugged up and full of delicious food all so you can get information out of me."

"I have more, too." Holly smiled and sat back, picking up a bag of cheese puffs from next to the water glass. She popped the bag open and moved one of the poofy cylinders of ambrosia to Gail's open mouth. The blonde closed her eyes and practically moaned.

"You know, when you torture people for information, you're supposed to not give them the things they want," laughed Gail, putting emphasis on the 'not'.

"I'm taking care of you. Not torturing you."

"That you are," muttered Gail as she took a sip of water from the glass Holly held to her lips.

"And you don't actually have to tell me anything, Gail." Holly put the glass back and then started playing with the hem of Gail's shirt. "I'm with you because I like you the way you are. Lack of sharing included."

For a few minutes they sat there in their silence, smiling at each other. Gail would share her sandwich with Holly who would give Gail water and share the cheese puffs she had open sitting in the space between them. This was definitely another moment Gail could add to her list of things she couldn't see herself doing with anyone except Holly. Honestly though, that list was pretty much just made up of their entire relationship.

"Why is this so easy?" Gail let Holly have the last bite of the sandwich and rested her hands on the other woman's hips.

"Well, actually this position is kind of hard to sit in," joked Holly. "My knees are starting to hurt."

"So move, you freaking weirdo," laughed Gail, pushing Holly down onto the couch next to her. Holly faced Gail, leaning her shoulder against the couch back, and pulled the blonde's legs up and over her own.

"Okay, why is what so easy?"

"Us. This." Gail put her head against the couch back and watched Holly purse her lips and shake her head.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Gail prodded at Holly's side, knowing the spots to make her jump. "You're the smartest person I know."

"Oh, I'm smart. Sure. Book smart. I'm…" Holly grabbed Gail's prodding hand and held it between her own. "I'm terrible at relationships."

"Why do I not believe that?"

"Because you think I'm perfect," sighed Holly. Gail didn't like the way her face drooped. "And thinking someone is perfect doesn't usually make for a good relationship. Especially if I'm the supposed perfect one."

"So, you think we won't work?" Gail's chest tightened and her stomach felt like she'd just swallowed a rock. There actually hadn't been a single moment yet where Gail had considered that they wouldn't work. Another thing to add to that stupid list. Holly immediately tilted Gail's head up so their eyes met.

"That's not what I said. I want us to work. I really like you Gail." Holly swallowed and dropped her hand back to Gail's shirt. "But you can't keep thinking I'm perfect."

"But you are perfect," whispered Gail. Holly rolled her eyes and looked up at Gail, her face betraying how annoyed she was until Gail continued and her face softened. "You're perfect for me. I don't care if you're actually perfect and I actually don't believe it's possible to be perfect. Unless you're me, of course. But you'll learn to live with that."

Holly rolled her eyes again but this time she was smiling and Gail spotted the way her cheeks flushed.

"So, why do you think you're terrible at relationships? Small words though, my head is still sort of woooooo." Gail made a goofy hand movement that she was hoping would communicate that the painkillers were still running through her system.

"My ex-girlfriends were kind enough to tell me how terrible at relationships I am while dumping me." Gail quirked an eyebrow hoping Holly would take that as a sign to explain and she wasn't disappointed when Holly rested her head in one hand and started talking again. "I get lost in my work. I forget dates and anniversaries. I can be cold and uninviting when I'm busy. I'm not very social. I don't know when to shut the encyclopedia I swallowed. I tend to make big decisions without thinking about my significant other. The list goes on."

"Weird that they would dump you for that stuff," said Gail pensively. It was Holly's turn to tilt her head and look curiously at the other woman. "I mean, if you can't remember dates and anniversaries, you sure as hell can't get mad if I don't. And I like the encyclopedia you swallowed. Be cooler if you could, swallow like, a comic book anthology or something though. Just something to consider for the future. As for the decision making…maybe you can work on that and I'll work on this whole sharing business since you seem to like it so much."

The loving look Holly was giving her was making Gail's heart race and it only got worse when the brunette pulled Gail closer and kissed her slowly and very passionately. It really made no sense to Gail how anyone could break up with Holly. A finals week of silence, like April told her about, and a lack of social functions, which Gail hated anyways, could not be reason enough to leave this wonderful woman. Holly obviously had killed someone. Or a group of people. A school bus full of kids or something. Maybe she assassinated a Pope. Had any Popes been assassinated? Breaking the kiss Gail pulled back slightly to meet Holly's eyes.

"You'd tell me if you killed the Pope, right?" Holly tilted her head and furrowed her brow while a very small smile played at her lips. Gail shook her head. "Never mind."

Pulling Holly into another kiss, Gail moved her uninjured hand along Holly's jaw and back into her hair pulling her closer. Meanwhile, Holly reached up between them and pulled her glasses off, tossing them onto the armchair nearby. Then she leaned back, pulling Gail on top of her. The blonde couldn't agree with her girlfriend more, they were both very done with talking for the evening.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: Still light but with a bit more feeling. Thank you so much for all your reviews and comments. They keep me writing.

"Today should be pretty easy for you, kiddo." Doug directed Gail to sit on the stool behind the counter and pushed the phone a little closer to her then set a walkie-talkie down next to it. "Sit here, talk to anyone who enters, answer the phone, and call me on the radio if you need anything. Channel 3."

Gail nodded before pulling her phone from out of her pocket and opening Angry Birds. Doug laughed and patted her on the back.

"Thanks for sticking around, Gail. I know you've had kind of a rough time." Before heading out the front door, Doug turned back around to address her so she was sure to look up from the screen to give him her attention. "Really though, if you need anything at all just call me on the radio. Unless it's medical. Holly's right night door."

He left with a wink and Gail couldn't help but smirk. After all the attention she had gotten from the doctor the previous night she figured she was good until lunch. Then a good dose of kisses were probably in order. Realizing what she just thought Gail groaned. Holly was making her soft. All doughy and sweet and using the word "kisses" while talking to herself. At least she hadn't used "smooches." She'd probably die of shame.

"Gross," muttered Gail.

"What's gross?" Chloe bounded through the door and up to the counter, smiling widely at Gail.

"Your excitement concerning life," scowled Gail.

"Oh, whatever, grumpy. I've seen you around Holly." Chloe leaned over the counter and made kissy faces. "You're just as excited about life as me. You just like being a little raincloud on everyone else's parades."

"What do you want, Price?" Gail huffed and crossed her arms. The only person Gail didn't mind calling her out on her shit was Holly, not Bubbles McHappypants.

"Oooo. Last name. I must have touched a nerve. A Holly shaped nerve…" Chloe was wiggling her eyebrows now. This had to stop.

"Price! Focus. What do you want?" All Gail had to dull the pain in her arm was anti-inflammatories and Tylenol; dealing with Chloe was not top of her list of things to do at the moment. Over the past two weeks, Gail had grown to somewhat like the bubbly redhead but now was not the time to test that budding friendship.

"Oh. Um. I was sent to give you a present," said Chloe who started digging around in the bag she always had around her shoulder. "Well, I mean it's not really a present. It's more like a card that we all signed and colored all over. Dov added the glitter and was hoping to blame it on me. Emily made her own for you that she wants to give to you at lunch. Oops. That was probably supposed to be a surprise. Sorry. Um. Act surprised okay? She worked really hard on it with Tim."

Chloe handed Gail a card made from thick construction paper. It was covered in drawings and stickers and said "Feel Better Soon" in big letters across the front. The blonde's heart skipped as she ran her fingers along the little doodles and letters before opening it and grinning at the names of all the kids in Emily's group, along with Morgan, April, Andy, Chloe, and Dov. She quickly wiped away the tears stinging her eyes and shoved the card closed on the counter.

"Thanks." Gail mumbled her appreciation hoping that Chloe hadn't noticed the tears. She had but she didn't say a word.

"No problem, Gail." Chloe reached across the counter and ruffled the blonde's hair. "See you at lunch."

Gail glared after the woman as she fixed her hair and picked up her phone. She had seen Holly not even an hour ago when she had dropped Gail off at the front office, but she already wanted to text her. It was reminding her of those love-struck teenagers in those pathetic high school romance movies you'd see on the channels directed at people under 18. Everything with Holly was different for her. She'd never felt like this before. This all had been making Gail wonder if she ever even liked guys to begin with or if there was just something about this nerd that was flipping her entire world upside down in just a couple of weeks.

Between the things Holly made Gail feel and the things she did to Gail the previous night, there was no doubt in her mind that she was definitely digging both the emotional and physical aspects of the whole woman-loving business. It got her thinking though. What did that mean about Nick or any of the guys before? Mostly Nick though. She was adult enough to admit the others didn't mean much beyond status and obligation. She had actually loved Nick. Hadn't she? So, how come whenever she thought about how she felt when she was actually with him, it felt more like the way she was with Dov?

"Ugh. It is way too early for thinking." Gail groaned and rested her chin on the counter. She held her phone out in front of her looking at Holly's contact info then let her eyes wander down to the card in between her and the screen.

Gail: Those dorks made me a card. Pfft. All I did was stupidly cut my arm open. Now I'm stuck being bored in a room all by my lonesome. They should have brought me snacks. And alcohol.

Holly: You poor thing. Having people care about you must be so hard. I can come over and keep you company if you'd like.

Gail: Nah. I wouldn't want to interrupt the slow assimilation of your text books.

Holly: Well, that just wouldn't work out for me. If I absorb them for nutrients, how can I read them again?

Turning the screen off on her phone with a smile, Gail got up and rummaged through the drawers until she found the remote to the television hanging in the corner on the wall near the door. Tonya had told her when she got there that they only had old VHS's to watch on it, no cable but at this point Gail just wanted to ignore the silence in the room. Silence meant she'd be alone with her own thoughts and she really didn't want that. As she knelt on her stool, which she had pulled over to get to the TV, in order to get the tape into the slot on the television she felt two familiar warm hands grip her hips. Letting Holly help her balance she got the tape in and hopped down, triumphantly.

"How do you do that?" Gail eyed the brunette suspiciously as she dragged her stool back behind the counter.

"Do what?"

"Sneak up on me all the time?" Holly shrugged as Gail pulled a chair over to the counter for her.

"I'm not trying. Maybe you're just oblivious," said Holly with a grin. She plopped down in the chair, propped her feet up on Gail's stool, and pulled the text book she'd put on the counter into her lap. Gail watched her read for a few minutes before turning to the TV and pressing play on the remote.

"What if someone skins a knee while you're in here?" Abbott and Costello started playing on the screen. Gail had actually been really excited to see that Doug and Tonya had so many old Abbot and Costello tapes. They were a favorite comedic act of hers since she had watched them with her dad when she was little and had to stay home with the chickenpox.

"I put a note on the door that says I'm in here." Holly was doing that thing she did when they first met where she kept reading even though she was talking to Gail. It hadn't been that long ago yet it felt like an entire lifetime. "The doors are a few feet apart. I think we're okay."

"And I'm not going to distract you from your studies?" Gail nudged Holly's foot as she stretched her arms out over the counter.

"I'm not studying. Just reading."

"You read text books for fun?" Holly smiled up at her with a raised eyebrow and Gail rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to Abbott and Costello. "Never mind. Of course you do. Nerd."

"Yours." Gail's heart skipped as she glanced over at Holly's goofy grin and found herself mirroring it. Then she quickly buried her face in her outstretched arms to hide her flushing skin.

"Mine," confirmed Gail, muttering into the sleeves of the cardigan she'd stolen from Holly's closet that morning. The brunette just laughed. "You're making me soft, Stewart."

With Holly hanging out with her the morning seemed to go by much faster even if there were times where they didn't even talk. Gail would just laugh at Abbott and Costello and their ridiculous shenanigans while Holly read through almost all of another text book. A little after lunch started, Doug and Tonya strolled in with their own lunches and relieved the two women of their positions so they could go see everyone. The other counselors were very interested in seeing how Gail was doing.

When they sat down at the usual table near the front door, Dov slapped a hand on Gail's back while Andy and Chloe shoved bags of chips across the table at her, Morgan smiled, and April added some cookies to her snack pile.

"I'm going to just cut my arm open like once a month, okay?" joked Gail as she handed Holly the cookies so she could open them for her and quickly devoured one. They were freshly baked chocolate chip, the best kind. "I expect these gifts or better, preferably better, from each of you."

Holly pinched Gail's leg under the table.

"Not funny," warned Holly, shooting Gail a stern look.

"A little funny," replied Gail with a smirk. Holly narrowed her eyes but the corners of her mouth gave her away.

"So, how bad does it hurt?" asked Dov. He was inspecting her bandaged arm like maybe he'd see something through the wrappings. "And on a scale of 1 to 10 how laid is the scar going to get you?"

Dov glanced up to find both Gail and Holly giving him their own bemused look. Gail had to work hard not to laugh her ass off at the look on his face. It also took every ounce of restraint to not make a joke about having already gotten laid and it not even being healed yet. If Gail had to grade Holly on her bedside manner, it was definitely an A+. It was also something she wasn't willing to share.

"Okay. How laid would the scar get me?" laughed Dov.

"Totally a 10," said Chloe from across the table, beaming at him. He timidly smiled and went back to his food with a smile.

"You don't even know what the cut looks like, Chloe." Gail kicked her under the table. "At least try to hide your boner for Epstein."

Everyone smiled or laughed, especially Chloe, while Dov elbowed Gail in the ribs, being sure to miss her arm. Then they all focused on eating their food as quickly as they could without choking. They wanted to be finished eating before the campers so that the kids who ate faster couldn't sneak out.

Holly had packed Gail a lunch that morning, along with her own, and was helping her eat by opening the bags for her. Since Gail wasn't on any painkillers it actually was incredibly painful to move her hand so the blonde graciously accepted any help from Holly. Dov tried to open her soda for her and she slugged him, saying he wasn't her girlfriend so it wasn't cute when he did it. Her best friend then proceeded to tease her for calling Holly cute in public which earned him a quick jab to the thigh that had him doubled over in pain for a few moments. Chloe just laughed and told him he deserved it. Gail knew there was a reason she had started to like Price.

"Did you guys hear about the storm headed up tomorrow?" Morgan was the first to finish eating.

"I read something about it on my phone this morning," said Holly as she opened one of the bags of chips the girls had given Gail and held it open for her. Gail remembered how Holly had talked about her exes dumping her and just couldn't believe such idiots existed in the world. The brunette didn't even look put out by helping her. "They said it should hit tomorrow afternoon and supposedly last a day or two."

"What are we going to be doing with a bunch of cooped up hormonal beasts?" Gail found it hard to believe they'd be able to curb the rampant grope fests that would break out if they couldn't get the teenagers' energy out with sports. "Maybe we can stick the horniest ones out in the rain."

"Come now, Gail. I'm sure you and Dov wouldn't appreciate being left out in the cold like that for any amount of time," teased April, finishing off the last of her tray.

Gail glanced over at Holly and raised an eyebrow. The brunette's cheeks flushed and she decided to focus on the last of her salad. Apparently April was not aware of how much of a horn-dog her little sister was and thought it was all Gail. She smirked and hooked one of her legs under Holly's. The brunette smiled at her salad and refused to look up until her cheeks weren't so red.

"Doug was telling me that he has a bunch of indoor stuff planned," said Andy. "And that he's got giant umbrellas and spare rain boots for everyone to share for getting around. Apparently this isn't the first summer a storm has hit during camp."

"Yeah! And we're going to do a giant camp out here in the cafeteria. How cool is that!?" Chloe was practically jumping in her seat. "We're going to eat junk food and watch movies on a projector. It will be great. Especially since next weekend is going to be the tent party before the last week of camp."

Gail tried to smile while Chloe and Andy continued talking about the activities Doug told them about but hearing about camp ending sort of brought Gail down a peg. She'd been so busy being happy she'd actually forgotten to be her usual ball of anxiety and worry about what came next. Two weeks and camp would end. What would that mean for her and Holly? Would that end? Would Holly just skip back off to medical school without her and just remember her when she told stories about that summer she turned a straight girl? Although Gail really doubted she had even been straight at that point. Too many touchy-feely sleepovers and uncomfortable moments spent in the high school locker room had been coming back to her over the span of the past week for her to think she was ever straight.

One of Holly's fingers prodded her in a ticklish spot on Gail's side to get her attention. The blonde quickly snapped her attention to the woman next to her and she was greeted by warm brown eyes and that lopsided grin she loved so much. She could feel her pulse jump. There was no way that her sweet, adorable, and nerdy Holly would do any of that to her. Right? Women like Gail broke hearts like Holly's. Not the other way around. So what did that mean?

"Hey, space-case. I asked if you wanted the other half." Holly held up a half-eaten candy bar and Gail gently took it from her, nodding slightly. As Holly pulled the wrapper down the bar for her, she looked over Gail's face and her brow furrowed. "You okay?"

"My arm hurts," said Gail. It just sounded weird and clingy to be worried about their relationship a week in so she didn't want to say anything. Not to mention the fact that her arm really did hurt. So, she actually found herself thankful for her stitched together arm. It was like a get out of jail free card that hurt like hell.

Holly nodded and carefully pulled Gail's injured arm between them. Gail watched her pull the ice pack out of her lunchbox and wrap it in a couple napkins before placing it over the exact spot of the cut. While the cold stung, it was also an almost instant relief from the painful burning that had been itching at her skin all morning. Her eyes fluttered half closed and she rested her head on Holly's shoulder, the relief being greater than any embarrassment at the small public display of affection.

"Hey, so Doug just texted me," said Dov. "Tonya said we should hold a vote among the kids to see what movie to watch and even if it doesn't storm we'll still get all set up in here to do the camp-out and watch a movie."

"Awesome!" Gail watched Chloe and Andy high five out of the corner of her eye.

"What are the options?" asked Andy.

"Uh. A bunch of Disney stuff." Dov looked at his phone and rattled off a bunch of Disney films from the past couple of years.

"Holes," said Gail. She sat back up, leaving her arm in Holly's hands, and looked around at all of them. "I want Holes to win. You all better vote for Holes or I'm disowning you. Especially Dov."

"What if I vote for Holes and they don't?" asked Dov. He actually looked offended at the idea of Gail disowning him.

"Still disowned," teased Gail. "You better work that out with the rest of them, huh?"

"Ooo. That sucks, Dov because I think I'm voting for 'The Incredibles'," laughed Andy.

"Same here," chimed in Chloe.

"Things aren't looking good for you, Dov Epstein. I guess I'm going to have to print out those disowning papers," said Gail, turning her nose up away from her friend like she was already done with him.

"Oh, come on guys."

"Dov, do we even get a vote?" April was laughing but she was clearly thinking about this more clearly than the rest of them. Dov looked down at his phone.

"We don't." Dov sounded very relieved. "Just the campers."

"Well, now I'm disowning you for sounding happy that I get no say in the movie choice." Gail stuck out her tongue and turned to face Holly, leaving her back for Dov to stare at blankly. Holly tried to hold back her smile but the grin on Gail's face was making it really hard.

"What? But? Gail…"

Gail jokingly ignored Dov for the rest of lunch. She would ask anyone who talked to him why they were talking to thin air and then pretend not to notice him and elbowed him in the cheek when Holly helped her up. They all went their separate ways as the campers began to head out to their next station or activity and Gail could already feel her phone going off in her pocket with texts from Dov.

"How long are you going to ignore him?" asked Holly.

"Probably until dinner. This isn't the first time I've done this." Gail smiled at Holly who grinned and shook her head.

"You're insane."

"You like it." Gail laced their fingers together as they headed back to the admin building to resume their dutiful watch of the front counter.

"That I do."

Once they were situated again in their respective positions, Gail on her stool and Holly reading from her chair, the blonde flipped the old comedy stand up back on and resumed bubbling out. Or at least she was trying to. Try as she might she couldn't get the thought of not seeing Holly again after two weeks out of her head. Were these feelings the ones that made other people so obnoxious when they were in relationships?

"You know, you've gotten me drunk twice now and I don't think I've ever told you about Nick and me," said Gail. Obviously sensing a change in conversation, Holly closed her book and set it on the counter.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't…"

"But I want to tell you." Gail paused the VHS and folded her good arm on the counter before resting her head on it. Wanting to tell Holly about Nick and being able to look at her while she did it were two different things. She knew Holly was looking at her though, watching her face. "It's not even like it's that big of a story. Girl meets boy. Girl's family hates boy. Girl sees that as a plus and dates boy. Girl stupidly agrees to go to Vegas with boy where they decide to get married. Girl wakes up alone with an apologetic note and a hangover."

"Do you regret it?" asked Holly. Her voice seemed kind of distant and Gail tilted her head on her arm so she was looking at her. Holly's head was turned down and she was staring at her feet propped up on the stool in front of her.

"Depends on what you mean by it?" Holly slowly looked up to meet her eyes. Gail chewed on her bottom lip for a second. "Going to Vegas with him? No. But I also don't regret not marrying him. Not now."

"Not after meeting you," was what Gail hoped her tone said because she choked on the actual words. The grin on Holly's face told her she got it. Holly stood up and moved closer, pushing the short blonde strands of hair out of Gail's face and lightly kissing her forehead.

"Your arm isn't the only thing bothering you, is it?" asked Holly as she nuzzled Gail's ear, planting another kiss along her jaw. Gail sighed and picked at the cardigan sleeve rolled up to her elbow on the injured arm. When Holly wrapped her arms around Gail's neck the blonde reached up with her good hand and squeezed the warm shoulder near her face. "Hey, no hurry. Talk me when you're ready. I'm not going anywhere."

"If you ever do go somewhere…" started Gail but she choked on her words.

"I would never leave you with just a note and hangover." Gail nodded and turned her head to look at Holly. Their foreheads met and Holly leaned in for quick kiss before pulling away. The blonde wiped her face on her sleeve and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Sorry, I don't know why I'm being so emotional today. It's stupid. We've been dating what? A week and a few days now? God, I probably seem crazy."

"Not in the slightest." Holly pushed her chair back to the desk Gail had grabbed it from and pulled an extra stool over. Then she left the room for a moment only to come back with an icepack wrapped in a towel and Holly set herself up on the side of Gail with her injured arm and applied the cold pack. "And you could have told me earlier that your arm was hurting. At dinner I can give you one of your Percocet. Just remind me because as much as I like you I might forget."

Gail nodded.

"Are you sure I don't seem crazy? I'm not freaking you out?" asked Gail. Holly smiled and shook her head before poking Gail on the nose with her index finger that was still cold form the icepack.

"That's the thing about painkillers, they're a little hardcore and tend to mess with your emotions, even the next day." Holly leaned in and kissed Gail's cheek and then moved to plant a softer kiss in the space next to her ear. "At least that's what I'm going to tell you so you can use it as a scapegoat if you want to."

A huge smile wound its way onto Gail's lips and she lightly nudged Holly with her elbow. A strange warm feeling spread through her body, originating in her chest and sweeping through every inch of her. How very rude of her wonderful girlfriend, assuming she needed a scapegoat to escape her feelings. Very rude and so very accurate. So accurate in fact that Gail couldn't have been happier with Holly in that moment. No one had ever given her an out before. A way to back up and get her own control back over the situation.

"Thank you," said Gail.

"Anytime." Holly kissed the side of the blonde's head. Then she rested her head on Gail's shoulder and turned up the volume on the television so they could finish watching Abbott and Costello together.

Note: Going to the beach tomorrow until Sunday. Will try to get an update out but no promises.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

Note: I was told that I should add the Holly PoV stuff I've been writing on my tumblr to this so I shall start doing that starting with this chapter. Which actually works out quite nicely since otherwise this chapter would have been way too short because I didn't want to start the storm in this chapter.

Thank you for your reviews. I love you. :)

I am back from the beach so updates should be regular again.

"How's she doing?" April shifted in one of the cheap metal chairs across from the nurses's desk. Holly could feel her sister's eyes watching her carefully in that small space between them. Holly had left Gail in the admin building after Abbott & Costello finished so that she could help a kid with a really bad stomach ache brought on by a case of 'not wanting to be hit by a dodge ball.' April had wandered in a little before the boy left and taken up residence in the chairs against the wall.

"Her arm is fine. She's just in a lot of pain," said Holly, hoping that April would drop it there but knowing that wasn't going to happen, not in this lifetime.

"I meant, how are you two doing?" April smiled and crossed her legs. She spoke her next piece very carefully in order to make her point. "And I know, that you know, that was what I meant, Holly Stewart."

"Good. Great. We're having fun," said Holly with a smile. She really wasn't comfortable getting into how she felt about Gail at the the moment. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell her sister everything, it's that she felt sort of silly about how strongly she already felt about the adorably petulant blonde. Here Holly was, almost 27 years old and a year away from finishing med school, yet her stomach would tie itself in knots just seeing Gail's name on her phone's screen. Her heart constantly raced when Gail touched her and felt like it would nearly burst from her chest each time they kissed, even despite Holly knowing the scientific impossibility of that happening.

"Just fun?" asked April, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow. Whoever said having your sibling as your best friend was awesome was a terrible liar because they always knew when you were the one being a terrible liar. Holly thought it really wasn't fair.

"She's extraordinary," sighed Holly, tossing the pen she'd been writing with onto the desk.

"Try not to look so upset while saying that," laughed April. Holly glanced over to see the loving look her sister was giving her. Heaving another sight she slouched down in the desk chair and stared at the ceiling. "Uh-oh. Not the slouch. What's up, Holly?"

"I really like her, April. Indisputably and vehemently."

"Okay. Seriously Holly, your body language isn't really matching your admissions of adoration for Gail."

"I know," said Holly. "I just feel so...so...discombobulated."

"Discombobulated?" laughed April. "Calm down thesaurus, you can say confused."

"But confused just don't feel powerful enough. You know?" April nodded and Holly continued to stare at the ceiling.

For a few moments they sat in silence. Holly was trying to figure out what to say and April was waiting patiently. This wasn't the first time she had to wait for her sister's brain to run through it's over-analysis of anything involving interpersonal relationships. April had been there for Holly during every confusing crush, through every panic attack over her sexuality, and after every break up. Holly Stewart had a massive habit of stressing too much about the small things and April was really good at being an anchor.

"The way she makes me feel. It's all intense and unexpected," said Holly as she played with the hem of the sweater she'd thrown on. "Part of the reason I agreed to come here was so that Lisa couldn't set me up with woman after obnoxiously-stuck-up woman. Yet, now I've accidentally found myself with the most marvelous and most stunning woman I've ever met in my life."

"Why are you even still friends with Lisa?" sighed April "Of all your friends, she's the only one who really irks me."

"I know," said Holly, leaving the Lisa discussion at that like she always did. Holly Stewart, queen of avoiding confrontation.

"Okay so, you really like Gail." April accepted the white flag and moved back to the more important topic. "We've established this. Why does it seem like you're not letting yourself just enjoy it? That girl is obviously head over heels for you."

Turning her head, Holly shot April a skeptical look. Now April was getting it. It wasn't that Holly was worried about how she felt. She was worried about how Gail felt. She saw it in Holly's furrowed brow and her pursed lips.

"Holly, Gail likes you. Gail very obviously likes you." April smiled at Holly. That smile she always gave her little sister when Holly was over-reacting to something simple. "You know the way she looks at you?"

Holly shook her head.

"Gail looks at you the way dad looks at Carol, the way Joey looks at me, when he isn't being an ass, and the way you at Gail," said April very matter-of-factly. "All lovey-dovey and doe eyed. The woman likes you Holly."

"I just don't want to be some summer fling," sighed Holly. "Some experimentation before she goes on with the rest of her life."

Leaning back and tucking her hands behind her head, April studied Holly. Meanwhile, Holly was letting her eyes follow the patterns in the wood of the ceiling above her. She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and started to bite at it nervously. Some indication that Gail had an interest in them dating beyond camp would be really comforting. Even if they didn't work out in the long run, Holly really wanted the chance to have a long run with Gail.

"Invite her to dad's birthday party," said April suddenly.

"Why would I invite her to dad's birthday?" Holly sat up and gave her sister a confused look. "I don't want to bore her away. Or to death."

"How are you the one in medical school?" teased April. Holly's cheeks flushed. "You want to invite her to Dad's birthday because it's the week after camp ends."

It clicked in Holly's head and she smiled. That was actually a great idea and even if the party was super boring like it was every year, there would be plenty of alcohol and good food, two of Gail's favorite things. There was also the Super Nintendo Holly knew was somewhere in her closet. Hopefully, Gail wasn't busy the week after camp and hopefully, Gail wanted to keep seeing her.

"Just remember," said April, grabbing Holly out of her thoughts. "If she says no that doesn't mean she's saying no to you. She could just be busy or something."

Holly nodded before looking toward the door as it opened. The topic of discussion walked in looking tired.

"Doug made me leave. Said the grimace on my face would scare people away," said Gail as she plopped down in Holly's lap and leaned backwards to snuggle into Holly, whose arms immediately wrapped around her. "Not that anyone has even showed up all day. I got one all the whole day. Hi, April."

"Hey, sunshine." April smiled and gave a slight wave.

"Do you want a painkiller?"

"Please and thank you."

"Okay, but they're locked in the cabinet over there," said Holly, pointing to the case where all the campers' medication was locked up. Gail groaned and Holly smiled while April stood up and grabbed Holly's keys off the table. It was ridiculous to her that Holly couldn't see how much Gail obviously liked the book worm. She unlocked the cabinet and pulled a pill out of Gail's bottle before locking the narcotics back up and handing the blonde her medicated relief. Without even waiting for a cup of water, Gail dry swallowed the pill and snuggled further into Holly's arms.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Wouldn't want you to have to get up," laughed April. "You just look so happy."

Gail stuck her tongue out as April tossed Holly's keys on the desk and headed out the door with a wave. Holly rested her chin on Gail's shoulder and kissed her cheek as the blonde closed her eyes, kicked her boots up on the desk, and leaned back, waiting for the pain to dull in her arm. It would probably be better to ask Gail about her dad's party later when the poor blonde's adorable face wasn't scrunched up in discomfort.

At dinner, Gail and Holly sat with the rest of the group again. As much as Gail loved spending time alone with Holly, she remembered Dov saying he wanted to spend the summer with his friend. So, earlier in the week, she had talked the brunette into eating with the rest of the group. Holly had agreed, saying she'd eat anywhere so long as she was with Gail. Of course, the blonde had immediately turned red and looked away. It was nice, though, eating with Dov but still getting to be next to Holly.

They were waiting for the rest of the counselors to get their own food and join them at the table when Emily and Tim came running up, stopping next to the end of the table near Holly.

"I meant to give this to you at lunch but then Tim said we should make you a present too." Emily pulled out a card and handed it across the table to Gail who smiled.

It was beautifully decorated with construction paper cutouts of the sun, a cabin, and the woods. On the inside it was the same scene recreated but at night with the words "Even the sun needs time off". Gail bit her lip and smiled up at Emily and Tim who looked so proud of their work. The Tim reached over and handed her a small bundle of paper held closed with a ribbon. She pulled the ribbon off and a necklace made of hemp rope decorated with beads fell out of the paper. Fighting back tears, Gail tried to smile in a way that would show her thanks but she choked and had to wipe her eyes.

"Thank you," said Gail as carefully and directly to Emily as she could.

"No problem, Sunshine. I hope you feel better soon."

And with that the two were running off to meet Tim's brother in the line for desert. Holly watched Gail stare down at the necklace before carefully taking it from her hand and putting in around the blonde's neck. As everyone else started to pile in and sit down at the table, Gail ran her fingers across the necklace and hid her card at the bottom of Holly's lunchbox.

Half way through the meal, Gail could feel the painkiller kicking in and she was starting to droop. It was such an odd feeling, painkillers. She felt lighter than air while simultaneously being unable to lift herself. She rested her head on Holly's shoulder while the brunette worked on finishing her dinner.

"Looks like someone's ready for bed," teased Morgan. Gail stuck her tongue out without bothering to open her eyes. She wasn't actually tired but she certainly wouldn't mind lying in the frankenbunk, curled up in Holly's arms while the brunette massaged her head. Gail smiled. "Look. The poor thing is already high. She's smiling at nothing."

Gail opened her eyes enough to glare across at Morgan who smiled. Holly finished her sandwich and wrapped an arm around Gail, pulling the blonde into a sideways hug.

"You want to go back to the cabin?" Gail nodded while glaring at Morgan who had started making kissy faces at her while Holly had all her attention focused on her girlfriend. "Come on."

As Holly threw away their garbage, Gail threw a couple of baby carrots at Morgan who was still being an ass. The other counselors watched and laughed, especially when Holly walked back over and raised an eyebrow at Gail wasting her food.

"He started it." Holly didn't say anything she just kept looking at Gail, hands on her hips. Gail rolled her eyes and huffed. "Sorry for throwing your food."

"Throw your cheese puffs next time," laughed Dov.

"Blasphemy," said Gail, turning and smacking him in the back of the head. "You heathen."

When Holly and Gail made it back to the cabin, Gail shut the door and pulled Holly against her. She lifted her uninjured arm and pushed Holly's hair behind her ear before leaning in to kiss her. Just light adorable kisses, pulling back slightly between each one. Holly started laughing and Gail smiled. God, she'd never get tired of that sound.

"Oh, I see. You just wanted to come back here and make out," laughed Holly.

"Not entirely," said Gail with a grin. Then she walked over to the bed and wiggled her eyebrows. "You do get to help get me change though."

"Oooo. I do happen to be a huge fan of taking your clothes off." Holly walked over and carefully helped Gail get her shirt off and Gail was sure it was an "accident" when the brunette let her fingers graze over her nipples.

Once Gail was changed and snuggling into the blankets and pillows Holly had brought from her apartment, she watched Holly start to pull her own clothes off and let her eyes wander over the exposed tan skin.

"You don't have to do bunk checks tonight?" asked Gail as her eyes roamed over Holly's spine and then to her stomach as she turned to grab her nightshirt. She knew that Holly was probably smiling at her while she stared but she didn't care. Instead she was just grinning at the thought of the sound Holly made whenever Gail lightly pulled on her navel jewelry with her teeth.

"Nope," said Holly, popping the p the way Gail does. She pulled on a sports jersey and pulled her pants off before crawling into the bunk with Gail, snuggling into the blonde's side. Then she pulled Gail's laptop between them and opened it. "I do have to wake up and do them though. No jog for poor Holly."

Holly put on a movie and held up the laptop while Gail pulled a blanket over them. It had become so routine neither of them really thought about it. At least until that night. Gail was thinking about it a lot. She didn't want to lose this. She never wanted to lose Holly. And the thought of feeling like that after only two weeks of knowing her, terrified Gail. As Holly snuggled back into the pillows, Gail reached over and pulled Holly into a desperate kiss, holding her face to hers by the cheek. After a second, Holly rested her hand over hers and pulled back. She had a worried smiled on her face.

"You okay?"

Gail shook her head.

"You want to talk about it?"

Gail shook her head again. Then she paused and nodded. Then she shook her head.

"I don't know," shrugged Gail.

"That's okay. I'm here when you want to talk. Okay?" Holly rested their foreheads together and pulled them both down so they were comfortably lying on the pillows together. Holly smiled at Gail so sweetly that she couldn't help but smile back, though a little less confidently. "I'm definitely not opposed to kissing though. At least until the girls get back."

As Holly's lips met Gail's the blonde moved so her injured arm was sticking up between them so she could scoot closer and she smiled into the kiss when Holly's fingers trailed along her jaw. Holly had a bit of an obsession with touching her face when they made out. She liked it. Actually she loved it. She loved everything she knew about Holly and she just wanted to know more. She just wanted more of Holly. Summer camp was probably a terrible place for all that though. Gail was the one who broke them apart the second time and she waited to talk until Holly opened her eyes and she could see her beautiful brown eyes watching her.

"I really like kissing you," muttered Gail. Holly smiled the kind of big goofy smile that Gail was growing to love where her eyes got all squinty.

"I quite enjoy swapping sensory information with you as well," laughed Holly. Gail rolled her eyes at Holly's phrasing before going back to looking into Holly's eyes. "What are you doing the week after camp?"

"Probably hiding from my mother so I don't have to tell her I haven't actually applied for the academy yet," said Gail. Her heart started racing at the mention of life after camp but luckily the narcotics were helping to keep her appear rather mellow. "Why?"

Holly bit her lip and looked to the side before meeting her gaze again.

"So, you want to maybe go to my dad's birthday party with me?" asked Holly but before Gail could ecstatically agree Holly was already off and babbling. "I mean, you don't have to. It's going to be really boring like it is every year. Mostly just a bunch of his friends from the post office and a bunch of other public service people he's met over the years. It's always really boring. Like, I can't stress that enough Gail. Super boring. But, you know there will be alcohol, food, and…"

Grabbing the back of Holly's head, Gail shoved their lips together for a quick moment. She had to get Holly to stop rambling or she'd never be able to answer. When she pulled back she saw Holly's eyes closed and a small grin on her face and knew this was the only moment she'd get.

"Yes," said Gail but she realized how excited she sounded she reeled it back and tried to act nonchalant. Holly opened her eyes and smiled at Gail. "I mean, I guess I can keep you company through all the boring stuff. You know, with my sparkling wit and charming company. It's the least I could do for you taking such good care of me."

"That's very sweet of you," teased Holly, poking at Gail's ribs where she knew the blonde was ticklish. When Gail jumped she laughed and kept going, bring in her other hand to help her torture her girlfriend. Gail was in stitches, she could barely breathe, and she couldn't believe Holly was able to avoid hitting her injured arm the whole time. She finally stopped and then wrapped her arms around Gail, knocking the laptop crooked between them but neither of them cared. Gail reached over and closed the laptop and cuddled further into Holly's arms. Holly kissed her forehead and closed her eyes. By the time the other counselors made it to the cabin after their nightly duties, they were both already asleep, still wrapped up in each other.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I copy pasted these chapters from fanfiction.net so if any chapters are out of order or repeated, let me know.

The next morning, Gail looked out the window to find a very bleak sky staring back at her. Large grey clouds blacked out the sun and open air above and cast the world into a somber state. Gail was waiting for Holly to come back from her morning bunk checks and help her get dressed because try as she may she couldn't get her shirt off without terrible pain. Especially since she couldn't take any pain meds if she wanted to be useful for the day. When Gail spotted Holly headed to the cabin, coffee in hand, she brightened slightly before heading back to the frankenbunk and throwing herself down so she didn't look like she was just waiting at the window like some puppy.

Gail pushed the pants she slept in down her legs with one hand just as Holly walked in. The brunette stopped and smiled before heading over and setting the coffees down on the bedside table. Holly helped Gail get dressed into a pair of shorts and the camp shirt. Since the sun wasn't out and it wasn't cold, they figured the blonde was safe to expose her skin again.

After Holly finished pulling Gail's sweatshirt on and zipping it up half way, she pulled out a scarf she had half tucked into her back pocket and turned it into a makeshift sling for Gail's injured arm. When the blonde looked at her confused, Holly just smiled.

"You move your arm too much," said Holly. "I don't want you to pop any stitches because while I have the technical knowhow to redo them, I would rather you not be my first test subject."

Gail's morning watching the front desk was as boring and uneventful as the day before. However, she took her laptop and charger with her that day so she could watch one of the many movies she had downloaded to the hard drive before leaving home.

"What, McNally?" asked Gail, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I just wanted to stop by and talk," said Andy, shuffling her feet awkwardly. "I was sort of hoping we could be friends"

"I dunno McNally." Gail stopped her movie and snapped the laptop shut before tucking it away in a drawer with a lock. "I don't know if you have what it takes to be friends with me."

"What?" Andy actually sounded offended. It was amusing. "I totally have what it takes."

"Do you?" Gail looked at the other woman skeptically. "I mean, I'm kind of a huge bitch."

"You're not a bitch to Holly."

"That's different. I'm nice to her and then I get to see her naked. It's kind of a deal we've worked out."

"What? You were nice to her before you were dating," said Andy, crossing her arms.

"Look. Andy. Real talk." Gail closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "This friendship's not going to work if you keep calling me out on my bullshit. Like I've told the others, it's cute when Holly does it. It's just annoying when the rest of you do it."

"Oh." Andy stood there awkwardly and Gail just watched her, leaning on the counter. "So, we're friends? We're good?"

Gail sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "Fine. Whatever, Andy. We're friends. Best buddies. Gal pals. But I don't do hair braiding and nail painting. And you have to buy me food if we ever hang out."

"You mean "when" we hang out, right?"

"No, I said if."

At that moment, Holly walked in the front door carrying a tray of food and her lunchbox. Gail eyed the food suspiciously while Holly tilted her head at the sight of Andy and Gail actually talking to each other. Andy smiled and waved at Holly before heading out the door.

"Talk to you later, Gail," she called back into the building as the door closed.

Holly raised an eyebrow at Gail who shrugged before sitting back down on her stool and grinning at the brunette.

"How may I help you today, ma'am?"

"Oh, god. Don't call me ma'am. That just makes me feel old," laughed Holly.

"Well you are four years older than me. Just think, when you were eighteen, I was…" Holly cut Gail off by leaning over the counter and covering her mouth.

"Yes, but I met you while you're twenty two so let's not think about that," said Holly quickly. Then Holly set the tray down in front of Gail and moved around to sit beside Gail on the other side of the counter. "Doug said he needed to stay after lunch so he could direct the kids to help him put all the tables away for the sleep in."

Holly hooked her feet under the stool's footrest and pulled Gail closer to her so that the blonde was sitting between her legs. Gail smiled as Holly wrapped her arms around her and nuzzled into her neck, humming against her skin. Focusing on the food in front of her, Gail held up a zip lock baggie with a sandwich in it and Holly held one side so the blonde could pop the bag open and retrieve the contents. Little kisses worked their way up Gail's neck to her ear as she took a bite of the sandwich before holding it over toward Holly's head. They spent lunch like that. Holly would help Gail open the bags and Gail would feed the overly affectionate Holly and they both just silently enjoyed each other's company.

The calm comfort of the moment was broken by a crash of thunder and Gail jumped back in surprise and fear and she would have stumbled back off the stool if Holly hadn't immediately grabbed her arms. Once she was righted again, Gail looked over at Holly expecting to see her laughing but she actually looked more worried. Then another crash in the distance and flash of light outside. However this time Holly was still holding her and she knew the brunette felt her shudder.

"Gail? Are you…?"

"No," said Gail quickly, looking into her lap.

"Gail." Holly tilted her head and gave the blonde that look that said 'I know you're lying'.

"Okay fine. Yes. But can we not talk about it?"

Holly nodded and pulled Gail back into her arms. Each time the thunder rolled, Gail would shiver or flinch but not a word about it came from Holly who took to making airplane noises with Cheetos and poking Gail's mouth with them. When Gail finally bit one in half, Holly laughed and mimicked the kind of plane crash noises a kid would make as she ate the other half.

"No survivors," said Holly.

"Twisted. Very twisted." Gail watched Holly lick her fingers and chuckled.

"They were Cheeto people, Gail. Would you like to send Cheeto flowers to their Cheeto families?"

"Nerd."

"Ass." Gail smiled at Holly and the brunette grinned back.

Then another close and loud crash of thunder and what sounded like a crack in the air directly above them killed the moment and dragged Gail back into a panic. She hated thunderstorms. Hated them. There was not a single logical reason for her to be afraid of them but she was and anything that scared her she hated. So, when she realized she was clutching Holly's arm for dear life she quickly released it and went back to stuffing her face. That was until there was another crack above them and then the power flickered out.

Shrill cries rang out across the grounds. Kids were so overdramatic. Gail huffed and got up to head to the window that faced the campgrounds. Rain was pouring from the sky and she could barely make out the cafeteria in the distance but she could see bodies under giant umbrellas running toward its direction. Holly came up behind her.

"Should we lock up and head over?" asked Gail.

"Probably. It's the only building with a generator besides this one. Shit." Holly quickly turned and grabbed an umbrella she'd brought with her when she came in. She threw her coat on and grabbed her lunchbox, shoving the packaged food into it that Gail hadn't finished yet.

"What's up?"

"I need to get the medication that has to be refrigerated over there quickly," said Holly as she locked the front doors and headed to the side door that led to the nurse's office.

"Can't we just turn on the generator here?" Gail followed her while she pulled her hood on and zipped her hoodie up.

"No, because if push comes to shove, they'll just drag this one over there and use it to keep that building running. No sense in wasting electricity if no one is going to be in here."

Gail nodded and followed Holly out the door, which they locked, and toward the little nurse's office next door. As Holly unlocked the door, Gail heard splashing and turned to see Andy running to them. Andy sprinted up the stairs and stopped in front of Gail, dripping onto the wood.

"Hey, Gail." Andy was clearly winded and she was drenched since she had no umbrella with her.

"What, McNally?'

"Doug says you two should head over," said Andy. Holly nodded and headed inside the room to get what she needed of the campers' medication while Gail waited outside with Andy. Once Holly was out of earshot, Andy's demeanor changed and suddenly she looked afraid. "Gail, I know you're hurt but can you cover for me with helping out? My dad isn't picking up his phone and it's really freaking me out. Especially since…"

"Go."

"What?"

"I said, go." Gail waved her off while Andy looked incredibly relieved. She couldn't bear to tell McNally that she knew all about her dad's drinking from her parents. Besides, it gave her a chance to look like the way cooler friend. Andy almost hugged her until Gail glared at her and just ran off toward the parking lot.

"Where did Andy go?" Holly was setting down a crate and turning to lock the door. "I could have used her help."

"Family emergency," said Gail. "I can help."

"You? Help?" Holly looked the blonde up and down. Gail shrugged and held out her one good hand. The brunette smirked and handed her the lunchbox and then the umbrella while she picked the milk crate back up. "Ready?"

Gail nodded.

They made it to the cafeteria with only the bottom of Holly's pants and their shoes soaked and as Gail stopped at the door to wiggle some of the water off the umbrella just outside the door, Holly headed off to the kitchen with her cargo.

"Hey Casper, you need some help?" Dov strolled up and grabbed the umbrella from her. He quickly had it folded up and in a plastic bag with the other umbrellas and standing next to a pile of mud boots next to the inside of the door. Gail looked around and saw all the kids setting out their sleeping bags and checking the contents of their bags to see if anything they brought got wet. "Chloe and I grabbed some of your stuff along with Holly's. I mean, we really couldn't tell whose was whose anyways. It's over in the corner with the rest of our stuff."

Gail followed Dov's pointing to the right hand corner of the room near the door. There was a pile of sleeping bags and backpacks. As they headed over to set up their stuff, Gail could tell Dov was about to bother her and sighed.

"What is it, Dov?" Gail watched him look toward the kitchens and then back at her.

"What's Holly's deal?"

"What do you mean?" Gail stopped in front of their stuff and looked carefully at her friend.

"Why doesn't she really talk to anyone but you and her sister?"

"She's not really a people person," said Gail.

"Wow. Perfect fit for you then, huh?" Gail swatted at Dov with her good hand and he dodged it easily before spotting Chloe and running over to help her with some teens fighting over space on the floor.

Holly walked up to her from the kitchens and looked around before quickly kissing her cheek and slipping a pill bottle into the pocket of Gail's sweatshirt. Gail knew it was her painkillers and she smiled knowing that she had guessed how Holly was thinking about her while grabbing all that stuff for the campers.

"Keep them secret. Keep them safe," said Holly with mock seriousness. Gail laughed.

"Did you just quote Lord of the Rings to me?" asked Gail with a smirk.

"Did you just recognize a Lord of the Rings quote?" retorted Holly.

A loud crack of lightening overhead sent shivers down Gail's spine and Holly rested a hand on her arm, knowing not to be too touchy beyond that in front of all the campers.

"Tonight is going to suck," sighed Gail.

"We can still zip the sleeping bags together is you want." Holly actually looked a little hopeful and Gail smirked.

"Getting a little too used to sleeping with me, are you Dr. Stewart?" Holly blushed and shifted her weight slightly causing Gail to smile wider.

"Maybe."

"What are you gonna do when camp ends?"

"Lure you to my place with Cheetos and alcohol," said Holly with a small smile.

Gail smiled and squeezed Holly's arm slightly before gripping a little too hard with another roll of thunder.

"Come on, I'll zip the bags together while you sit and watch." Holly moved away from Gail and rolled out one bag and then reached for the other. Gail plopped down on the ground and propped the lunchbox open in her lap, pulling open a bag of carrots and eating a few.

"You know me so well," said Gail. Holly laughed and shook her head.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where I stopped copying and pasting from fanfiction.net so everything should be good from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I reworked this chapter to fit with the new direction I'm taking the story since I forgot where I was going with what I had written before. Some of the beginning is exactly the same, almost everything else is new. Hope you enjoy it. I will try to update as soon as possible, however my life is a mess right now and I make no promises and have no set schedule.

Gail really couldn't really do too much since one of her arms was out of commission but she was able to help walk around and keep some of the campers from killing each other over board games and Pokemon trades gone wrong. She was actually managing rather well despite her handicap. For a moment she was worried she had a problem when some guy was getting rowdy with one of his friends but she popped him in the back of the head while Doug wasn't looking and everything was fine.

When she finally wandered back to the corner where Holly had set out their sleeping bags she took off her shoes and plopped down on the little nest and burrowed herself in. Looking out the window on the wall to the side of her she groaned at the weather. It was pouring so hard outside that Gail could barely make out the outline of the trees in the distance. The grey sky was slowly fading to black and the sound of the downpour was loud on the roof. She was thankful that the cafeteria actually had bathrooms inside of it because there was no way she was wandering out into that to take a leak. She'd piss in an empty container before she'd do that. Another thing she was thankful for was that the thunder had significantly calmed.

Pulling her from her thoughts, Gail's phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw a message from her mother. Gail groaned and unlocked the screen.

Elaine: Your father wants to know if you're okay.

Gail: So why didn't he text me?

Elaine: He left his phone at the office. So, are you okay or not?

Gail: I'm drowning as we speak. Texting really is easier than calling 911.

Elaine: Gail Peck.

Gail: Tell dad that we're fine. No one has drown. No random kids missing. Everyone is relatively dry. It's all very boring and safe.

Elaine: Are you bringing Ms. Steward to the gala?

Gail stared at her phone. She had almost completely forgotten about agreeing to go to that stupid thing when Steve had grabbed that wine for her. And of course, there was something else Elaine wanted otherwise her mother never would have texted her. She typed out a request to take Holly before erasing it and deciding on a better response.

Gail: It's Stewart and yes.

Okay, so Gail hadn't actually asked Holly about the stupid gala yet but if Holly said no Gail would just make up an excuse for her not showing up. That would be much easier than letting her mother think she could try and set her up with any one of numerous losers she probably had lined up. Gail knew she wouldn't get a reply after that and smirked when she was right.

"That grin could probably kill a bear." Gail looked up and met Holly's gaze as the brunette kicked off her shoes and sat down on the sleeping bags with her.

"Hope so. It's all I've got if I run into one," said Gail. Holly smiled and reached over to lightly grasp Gail's ankle, running her thumb across the skin there.

"You've got me," said Holly with her usual lopsided grin.

"What am I going to do with you, Holly? Throw you at the bear?" laughed Gail. "That would just be mean to the bear. He'd have to hear about the importance of entomology in relation to the decomposition of the human body."

"You obviously found it interesting enough to remember it."

"I can't help it. I have a great memory thanks to years of weird ass memory retention games," said Gail. "Not to mention the fact that you just get so cute when you talk about the nerdy things you read."

The smile on Holly's face made Gail's heart skip and she found herself smiling back. They were pretty much lost in their own world of puppy love when April plopped down next to Gail and Emily threw herself down into Holly's lap.

"Hello, ladies," said April as she caught sight of Holly's hand on Gail's ankle. She groaned. "Can you two stop being so unbearably cute. You're making me actually miss my husband."

"Whatever, April. You miss Joey when you go to the grocery store without him," teased Holly. Gail watched Emily snuggle into her aunt's arms and was instantly jealous of a twelve year old. Holly's hand was still on her ankle and she reached up and traced her fingers along the tan skin of her girlfriend's hand. "The fact that you've managed this long is quite shocking."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Holly," said April. "I can't stand the man. So annoying."

"Sure." Holly rolled her eyes and Gail grinned. "So, how are they doing dinner? I'm kind of hungry."

"They're going to set out the food soon and everyone can line up like they normally do. Only difference being that we're all going to eat on the floor," said April.

Gail watched Emily slowly nod off in Holly's lap. The little girl had been following around her mother helping her set up the projector for the movie they were going to watch during dinner so she was obviously tired. Doug had said that even though it would take a lot of extra electricity it would be worth it to keep the kids happy and entertained. Maybe it would keep them from all rioting. Gail could only hope.

"Good evening, ladies." Dov and Chloe sat down on the floor just at the edge of the sleeping bag and Dov tossed Gail a bag full of brownies. "Confiscated these from some kid."

"What did he do?" Gail lifted the bag and looked at it questioningly before pulling two out and handing the bag to April who passed them off to Chloe without taking one. Gail held hers out to Holly who refused.

"He called Chloe Smurfette. Fuck him," said Dov. "Our brownies now."

"But she is Smurfette," teased Gail. Chloe kicked at her.

"Yeah but it's different when you guys call me it," said Chloe with a pout.

Gail took a bite of the brownie and noticed a bitter taste but welcomed the chocolate. Being stuck at a camp full of healthy food was starting to get to her. Even the snacks that Holly brought her weren't cutting it.

"God, this kid needs to learn how to bake," said Dov after swallowing his brownie in practically one bite. "Did he just dump a bunch of vinegar in it or something? What the hell?"

"He might have made them in our baking class yesterday," signed Emily from the comfort of Holly's lap. Dov and Chloe looked a bit confused at her hand movements not understanding them. "There was a lot of rough housing and random stuff being poured into things. One kid's cake had peppers in it."

"Emily says they might have made them in baking class," laughed Gail. The idea of a pepper cake sounded hilarious. "And apparently there was tons of goofing off."

Gail pulled a water bottle out of her bag and choked down a mouth full of water while pulling a pain killer out of her secret bottle and popping it. It got rid of the terrible taste in her mouth and she'd be happy to be rid of the pain in her arm. She wiggled the water bottle toward Holly who smacked Gail's hand away playfully.

"Alright everybody, grab your grub and take a seat so we can get Holes started," called out Doug to the room. Gail let out a victory "whoop" at the drop of the movie name as all the campers started to line up for the dinner options.

Once everyone was dropping back down onto their sleeping bags with paper plates piled with hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, and the other food that had been laid out for dinner, Doug flipped out most of the lights and pulled a rope to let the big white projector sheet fall and cover one of the building's walls. Holly sat down first and leaned against the wall she'd put the heads of their sleeping bags against. Gail was about to sit next to her when Holly patted her hand on the ground between her legs and smiled up at her. The blonde smiled back and positioned herself to sit between Holly's legs and snuggled back into her arms.

If it was at all awkward for Holly to eat while sitting like that she never let on as they both made quick work of their meals. For some reason Gail found herself incredibly hungry. There was also this weird tingling feeling on her skin. Or in her skin. She furrowed her brow and looked down at her uninjured hand, wiggling the fingers and watching as they moved. She was thoroughly entranced.

"Gail, are you okay?" asked Holly.

"What?" Gail turned to look at Holly but found herself turning back and then doing the turn one more time simply because she was amused by the feeling.

"Gail?"

"Yes, Holly?" Gail turned again before being stopped by Holly's hands. The brunette had grabbed Gail's face and was directing Gail to look her in the eye.

"Gail, how many pills did you take?"

"Um...one. You said before to only take one even though the bottle said two. So I only took one. One. Wwwwuuuun." Gail smiled and held up one finger just to clarify to Holly that she had only, in fact, taken one pill.

April came over with her food and sat on her bag next to theirs. She handed her plate to Emily who ate while half asleep and looked over at Holly who was still inspecting Gail's face with an odd seriousness. Gail took it upon herself to poke at the corners of Holly's mouth hoping to get her to smile.

"April, can you help me get Gail outside?"

"Sure thing, kiddo. What's up?" April got up and started to help Holly get Gail on her feet. Gail didn't remember it being so hard to stand last time she did it. It seemed so easy before but now her feet barely wanted to cooperate. If it weren't for Holly and April she probably would have to crawl around and that would just be terrible. Imagine how dirty her hands would be.

When the two women got Gail outside, Holly rested Gail against the wall under a light and grabbed her face again.

"Woah, Holls. Not in front of your sister," laughed Gail, pushing at Holly's hands to no avail.

"April, tell me you see how dilated her eyes are too." April leaned in to get a closer look at Gail's eyes.

"Hey, now. This is getting weird. I only like Holly. Sorry April," said Gail. Both Holly and April just grinned but mostly ignored her protests.

"Gail, sweety, are you sure you only took one pill?" asked April.

"Yup. One." Gail raised her index finger again to indicate how many pills she took.

"Her eyes are dialated a lot more than just one percocet worth."

"Was it something in the food?"

"No, I feel fine."

"Me too."

"Hey now, ladies. How about we clue Gail in on this little secret conversation?" Gail was having a hard enough time standing up, following the conversation of two sisters who clearly were on the same page was just too much. Especially when Gail was pretty sure she wasn't even on the same shelf, let alone in the same book. Although it would be really cool to live in a book. It would be like the Winnie the Pooh books where they walk on the letters.

"Gail, don't freak out," said Holly, reaching over to steady Gail on her feet when she saw the blonde sliding down the wall. "I think there might have been something in the brownie you ate."

"Something?" Gail was lost. What could have been in the brownie? Nuts? "I don't think there were any nuts in the brownie, Holly."

"Not nuts sweetie."

Gail's eyes went wide.

"Poison? Did someone poison me? Was it Dov? He's so jealous of how much cooler I am." Gail was worried until she looked at Holly's lips and lost her train of thought as the sexy brunette spoke.

"Gail, you're stoned," said Holly, her face torn between worry and amusement. "Very, very stoned."

The blonde looked up from Holly's mouth with a blank expression before Holly's words finally registered in her brain. The brownies were laced. Laced with illicit drugs. Anyone who ate those brownies now had illicit drugs in their system. The kind of drugs that make people freak out. The kind of drugs that get people sent to jail to live out their lives as the bottom bitches to lonely, bruley women. Gail's breathing quickened and Holly was quick to notice and began rubbing Gail's arms.

"Hey Gail, it's okay sweetie. You're okay." Holly turned to April while continuing to rub Gail's arms. "Can you find that bag of brownies and make sure Dov and Chloe are okay? Also, let Morgan know what's happening."

"Aye aye, captain," said April with a grin and mock salute.

"Is she a pirate? I thought she was a nurse…" Gail was so confused. Nothing was making sense and the the world seemed to have an entirely new set of physics laws that she just did not have time to learn. "Holly."

"Yes?"

"Holly?"

"Gail?" Holly smiled.

"Holly. Am I going to die?" Holly was about to answer before Gail interrupted her. "Oh my god. Am I going to kill someone? I'm going to accidentally kill one of these kids, aren't I? Holly, I can't go to jail. I won't make it. Literally. My mom would have me mysteriously die in custody before I even made it to jail."

"There is a good chance you won't die," laughed Holly. "Knowing how kids are, they're probably just pot brownies and weed alone hasn't killed anyone. So, unless you give yourself a heart attack, you will be fine."

"I'm too young to die." Gail leaned forward, buried her head in the crook of Holly's neck, and wrapped her arms around the brunette. Holly was so comfortable. She started to pet the back of Holly's shirt, tracing the muscles and bones of Holly's back under the fabric. The repeated action was mesmerizing and Gail had no idea how long they stood there.

"Is summer camp always this exciting?" asked Holly, placing a kiss on the side of Gail's head.

"I blame McNally," mumbled Gail.

April returned and tapped Holly on the shoulder, pulling Gail out of that moment's daze. It was so hard to concentrate. One second she would be clearheaded and focused, the next second she was going over the pronunciation of jurisdiction in her head. At one point she's pretty sure she thought it was pronounced jerk-is-dick-tron.

"Chloe is laughing louder at the movie than the kids and Dov is eating pretty much every single leftover piece of food from dinner," chuckled April. "I've got Morgan keeping an eye on them and I flushed the rest of the brownies."

"Oh my god, food sounds like such a good plan. Can I have food?" Gail looked at Holly with the biggest puppy dog eyes should could muster and the brunette easily gave in with a nod.

April and Holly got Gail back inside safely and April sat at the sleeping bags with the stoned blonde while Holly went off to try and get some food before Dov managed to scarf it all down. In the meantime, April gave Gail a bag of small cookies and Gail could swear each one was better than the last.

"This cookie tastes so good. It's the best cookie ever," moaned Gail.

"You sure. What about that cookie?" asked April, indicating the new one Gail had pulled out of the bag. Gail quickly popped it in her mouth and her tastebuds exploded.

"You're right, this is the best cookie ever."

"I don't know I think you should try the next one," laughed April.

"Oh my god, you're right again. You're so freaking right." It was like the cookies were having the best sex ever with her tastebuds.

"April, stop messing with her," said Holly as she walked back up to the pair with food but Gail could see she was smiling at her sister. In the middle of the campers, Gail could hear Chloe let out a boisterous laugh and the kids seemed to laugh harder as Chloe fought to contain her giggles. Holly sat down in front of Gail and hander her the plate of food. "Here. This was all I could stop Dov from stuffing in his face."

"You are the best girlfriend ever. God, I love you," said Gail. If she had been more coherent she probably would have noticed Holly stiffen as her cheeks flushed and she definitely would have registered April's snort. However Gail was too busy eating the best hot dog that had ever existed in the history of the universe and barely registered they were there, let alone what she had just let slip from her lips.

"I'm…I'm going to um...go check on the campers," choked out Holly as she quickly stood back up and headed off to do actual counselor work.

"I really, really, hope you remember all of this tomorrow," laughed April.

"Remember what?" Gail looked up at April and she must have looked as lost as she felt because April was cracking up and waving her hand as if to wave Gail's question away.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: Metal illness is a serious motivation killer. I hope you like where the story is going. Let me know what you think.

Around the time "Holes" started to end Gail was coming down from the high of the pot laced brownies. And as the world started to come back into focus around her she felt suffocated in the cafeteria full of light murmuring and giggling. While Holly was distracted with April and Emily, Gail snuck out the front doors and onto the wrap around porch of the cafeteria building. Rain was still pouring down from the pitch black sky above but the thunder and lightning had subsided. Gail sat on a bench near the door and took a deep breath of fresh air. Fresh, cold air.

The cool air washed over her as she closed her eyes and listened to the heavy fall of the rain. Her brain was still fuzzy and she was sure time was still slower than it should be but everything was slowly coming back into focus. Well, everything except her memories. It was like her brain couldn't hold on to the past hour. Not that Gail wasn't already used to the occasional memory lapse from a night of drinking.

Gail stood up and stretched trying to shake away the fuzzy edges of her brain. Looking out into the dark campgrounds around her she froze when she saw something flickering in the distance. So far during the high she hadn't hallucinated so she didn't think any would suddenly pop up at that moment but she shook her head all the same. Trying to focus she saw the flicker again. It was light. It was someone running with a light. For a second she figured maybe it was Andy but Andy would have been coming in from the parking lot which was in the opposite direction. Whoever was running up was coming from the woods.

Then she saw the form stumble and heard the young voice cry out over the pouring rain.

Without a moment's hesitation Gail was out in the rain running toward the light. It was hard to push the fuzzy edges to the side but she tried to put her brain on autopilot. No ridiculous thoughts of bears. No superficial thoughts of being drenched and cold. One foot in front of the other. She slid to a stop and reached down with her good arm to grab the arm reaching up for her and as she helped the kid to his feet she looked at his face and froze.

It was Jarred Mackey. Beaten, bruised, and now covered in mud but it was him. Gail's brain caught up with the moment as quickly as it could and she remembered he was running and looking at his face he was running for a reason. She looked behind him into the dark and strained against the dark backdrop of the woods and campgrounds.

"We have to go. We have to…," gasped Jarred between breaths.

Sure enough her fears were realized in form of flickering lights far in the distance. Two of them. As she pushed Jarred to run ahead of her she tried to gauge how far off they were. Five minutes maybe. If they were slow and if the muddy patch that Jarred had slipped in got in their way. As she caught up with Jarred she helped him move faster as best she could. He was limping but he pushed himself as best he could. Gail was just worried about time. She needed enough time because whoever this kid was running from was probably armed and more dangerous than anyone at this camp was equipped to deal with.

As Gail and Jarred made it through the cafeteria door everyone who was still awake jumped up to look at them and their very sudden, very loud, intrusion. Everyone seemed to just be frozen and trying to process what they were seeing except for a few of the adults who were immediately up and headed to Gail. Holly took Jarred from Gail's arms and helped him into a chair. She tried to ask Gail something but Gail wasn't processing any of her words.

"Gail, what happened?" Gail?" asked Holly.

"Jarred? Where have you been? Are you okay?" Tonya grabbed a towel and began helping Jarred clean up a little while Holly turned away from Gail and tried to focus on taking stock of his injuries.

Gail shoved the double doors behind them closed and locked them. She was completely focused, fighting against the cloudy edges of her thoughts. For once in her life she was thankful for her parents constant training because for the most part she was completely running on instincts and all the police training that had been ingrained in her since she was six.

"Help me close these windows," shouted Gail as she smacked Morgan's hand away from the light switches. "Keep the lights off."

No one moved to help her so she stopped and her brain managed to catch up with the moment. Through the slight haze still clouding her mind she had been completely running on instinct but no one in the room knew what was happening. Only Jarred really knew and Gail only had a basic idea.

"I got away. Kept me in the woods. They're chasing," struggled Jarred.

"Who are they?" asked Tonya. "Are they...are they armed?"

Jarred nodded and Gail's stomach dropped. It didn't matter that she had been running on the assumption that they were armed, knowing they were sent a shiver down her spine. She had brought her taser with her to camp but it was back in the bunk in her backpack and even then a taser could only take out one of them. Gail's mind raced.

"We have to close these shutters. We need to lock all the doors and get everyone into the kitchens, away from any windows," said Gail. "Doug, call the police."

Frozen faces stared back at her.

"Now!" shouted Gail.

Everyone shot into action. Doug immediately pulled out his cell phone to dial emergency services. The older counselors started getting all the kids up and herding them through the darkness into the kitchens the only illumination from the handful of cell phones among the teens. Dov, Chloe, and Morgan worked on checking the doors and locking the shutters closed over the windows. April and Tonya helped Jarred back to the kitchens with the others. While Gail worked on the shutters with Holly she pulled out her phone and hit the speed dial for her brother.

No answer.

She dialed again.

Still no answer.

"Fuck," huffed Gail. She dialed her mother.

Gail was about to give up on an answer when at the last second the line picked up.

"Abigail, do you realize what time it is?"

"Jarred Mackey, the missing kid, we have him but there are people chasing him. We're barricading ourselves in the cafeteria. Doug is calling the police but I just figured you and Steve might want to know." Gail hung up the second she was done and gave her full attention back to her task. The last thing she wanted to deal with was her mom asking for specifics while she was trying to fight the remnants of being high and dealing with a dangerous situation.

"Gail, we finished the windows and the doors are all locked with tables in front," said Dov as he came hurrying over to her. "What's the plan?"

"We hold out until the police get here."

"Are you sure they have weapons? That kid could just be scared."

"No, I'm not sure. But I'd also rather not take the chance."

Dov nodded and hurried off to help Chloe double check that everything was secure. Gail peeked out of one of the slats at the lights growing closer to the building. She could see them slowing down as they converged. Gail could feel Holly's presence next to her even though the brunette stayed quiet. Gail wasn't entirely sure what Holly's silence meant in the face of everything but she would hopefully have time to worry about that later. As the light of the flashlights shined toward the building Gail ducked down, pulling Holly with her.

"Gail." Holly's voice was small and quiet. "Are we going to be okay?"

This brought Gail out of Elaine Peck Mode and back into the moment rather than trying to think six steps ahead. She turned to look at her girlfriend. Holly looked absolutely terrified and this made Gail's heart ache in a way she'd only felt the time Steve talked about almost getting shot. Gail took the moment to give Holly a small but careful kiss while she took her hand into her own. A police officer is never supposed to promise anyone in a situation like the one they were in that everything was going to be okay or that everyone was going to make it out unscathed. They're supposed to keep control of the situation, keep everyone calm, and plan their actions accordingly.

But this was Holly.

And Gail wasn't a cop.

Yet.

"We're going to be okay, Holly," said Gail with another kiss. "I promise."


	26. Chapter 26

The rain started coming down harder. Gail was thankful because it masked the murmuring and occasional crying of the kids hiding in the kitchen. The counselors tried to keep everyone as quiet as they could but some of the kids were terrified and had trouble staying silent. The two men were still outside but they had split up. One had headed toward the admin building while the other was just outside the cafeteria trying to peer inside through the wooden slats. Gail was glad she had sent Holly to the kitchen to make sure everyone had their phones on silent and to try and help with the kids because he was stuck in a corner in the open eating area. It wouldn’t have hidden a second person from the flashlight’s beam shining into the room.

Gail had grabbed a discarded dark hoodie off the floor before they closed in on the building and she replaced her soaked shirt with the dry material, using the hood to hide her hair. Then she slowly moved closer to the closest window to try and get a better view of the man outside as his flashlight moved across the floor of the room. He was inspecting the remnants of the sleepover and she was hoping that whoever they were they would think everyone had left due to the storm and keep moving. The wooden window slats and the angle of the corner she was hiding in meant she couldn’t make out much about him except that he was big, he was wearing a big jacket and boots appropriate for the weather, and he had the unmistakable glint of a handgun to go along with his flashlight.

Whoever these people were they were not here to play nice.

The guy who had split up and headed to the admin building came running back over and they spoke quiety and quickly with each other. While they were turned away from the building, Gail quickly moved across the wall toward the kitchens and turned into the doorway behind the serving station. All eyes fell on her and she could see the panic and fear on everyone’s faces. Gail knew she couldn’t mess this up.

Dov looked like he wanted to ask her something but Gail quickly signaled for him to stay silent. The downpour on the cafeteria roof was covering the quiet sounds from the handful of crying kids but Gail didn’t want to even risk the chance of a voice being heard by the armed men outside. The thought of the gun was suddenly at the forefront of Gail’s mind she looked around the kitchen and signaled for Dov to follow her when she found her target.

Some of the windows of the cafeteria’s eating area were visible from the kitchens through the serving area so Gail was careful to make sure she and Dov remained completely out of view of them as she moved across the open portion of the kitchen. Reaching their destination, Gail pulled open a drawer and presented Dov with a variety of cutlery. Dov looked at the knives and then back up at Gail, meeting her eyes.

Dov was terrified.

No. They were both terrified.  
They weren’t trained officers. They were two idiots who thought summer camp sounded like a fun, relaxing break away from their lives. Yet here they were, crouched down in a kitchen in the middle of the the night confronted by the danger and uncertainty they already knew would fill their futures. Gail knew that if it came down to it there wasn’t much that knives were going to do against men with guns but they really didn’t have any other choice.

Dov nodded and took one of the knives with a shaking hand. Then Gail almost jumped when Chloe also grabbed one from her because she hadn’t expected Santa’s elf to follow after them. However, Chloe must have realized what Gail had been going for though she was there looking just as scared as them to be holding something they might actually have to use as a weapon. After an uneasy moment between them, the three head back over to the rest of the group hiding in the corner.

Gail looked over at Holly and saw that she had been watching them the entire time and Holly’s eyes flickered between the knife in Gail’s hand and back to her eyes. However, Holly didn’t move or say a word. She simply offered a small smile that faded as quickly as it had appeared. Gail tried to smile back but she was sure it looked more like a grimace. Then Gail quietly and quickly moved back out of the kitchen just behind the serving station.

The men had moved away from the main doors of the cafeteria and headed to the side facing the admin building. They seemed to be watching something toward the parking lot and Gail watched from behind the serving station as both men tucked their firearms into their belts at the small of their backs, just under their jackets. While the big guy that Gail had inspected before kept his hand on his the smaller guy pulled his jacket down and walked forward a few steps. Confused, Gail moved along the wall closer to the windows. Someone was outside with them. Someone they were greeting.

“Hey there!”

Gail was crouched below the window just on the other side of the wall from the men and she could hear one of them call out. She assumed it was the small guy.

“Hey,” called Andy.

Gail’s eyes went wide. She had completely forgotten about Andy coming back from helping her dad or maybe she just figured the idiot wouldn’t have come back in the middle of the night after the storm had gotten worse. Whatever the case may be, Andy was back and she was in a a lot of danger. Looking over at Dov, who was just on the edge of the serving station and also listening she could tell she wasn’t the only one who had let Andy slip their mind. Gail quickly pulled her phone from her pocket and texted Andy, making sure to keep any of the light from her dim phone from being seen.

“Did you see-,” started the big guy but he was soon cut off by his friend.

“Hey, uh,” said small guy. “Wasn’t there a summer camp happening here?”

“What?” Gail could hear Andy’s voice more clearly and a lot closer now. She must have moved up onto the deck with the men. Gail prayed that Andy’s pause in conversation was her checking her phone. “Oh. Oh yeah. There was. We packed everyone up because of the storm. Were you looking to pick up a camper?”

“Everyone that was here is gone? They just left all their stuff in there?”

“Well, we didn’t expect the storm to get this bad. I just came back to get the kids’ medication that got left behind,” said Andy. “We’re down the road at um...you know that motel that’s just in town? Next to the diner.”

“So, you haven’t seen anyone up here?” asked the big guy.

“Other than you guys, nope,” said Andy as casually as she could. Then she paused and changed her tone. “Should I be worried about someone being up here? Have you guys seen someone?”

“No. No. We haven’t seen anyone,” said the small guy. “Hey, do you think I could pick up my kid’s stuff while I’m here? You know, before we go to the motel to pick him up.”

“Oh. Uh. Are you sure you’ll know what’s his? It’s kind of a mess in there.” Andy’s voice faltered.

“I’m positive.”

Gail swallowed hard and looked to Dov who looked as uneasy as she felt. There was no way Andy was getting in through the locked and barricaded doors and there was no way Gail was going to let those armed goons anywhere near the kids inside, let alone the one they were after.

“Well, you know I’m not even going in there. I was only given the key for the nurse's office. I only came over to see if you guys needed help,” said Andy.

Gail heard the guy grunt and peeked out of one of the slats to see him pull the gun from under his jacket. The big guy followed suite and in a second Andy had two guns pointed at her. She threw her hands up and froze.

“Look, I’m tired of playing. You’re going to let me the fuck in this building or I’m going-”

“FREEZE! PUT THE GUN DOWN!”

Gail shot up and looked out the slats of the window at the sound of her brother’s voice. Steve was standing just behind the two goons with his gun drawn and trained on the one closest to Andy. Another officer ran up just behind Steve with his weapon trained on the other guy. Flood lights popped on from the direction of the parking lot and the comforting sight of blue and red lights filled the darkness.

A wave of relief rushed over Gail as the two men surrendered without a word. As soon as their guns were on the ground two officers had them pinned against the wall with handcuffs at the ready. Steve moved to Andy to check on her and Gail yanked the shutters that she was at open. Steve jumped slightly and pointed his gun toward the window but he moved the barrel back to the goons and smiled when he saw it was just Gail. Andy looked like she was about to pass out but gave Gail a small wave.

Leaving the knife on the floor where she had been crouched, Gail rushed to the kitchens to see the stove being moved from in front of the back door and a couple of EMTs head into the room. Gail was about to push passed a couple of teens to get to where Holly was helping April with Jarred when her mother’s voice cut through the room stopping her in her tracks.

“Gail!”

Gail turned to get swept up into an uncomfortable hug by her mother but she couldn’t just shove her mother off of her. Could she? It was certainly tempting. Had everything really taken long enough for her mother to get to the camp? Why did Elaine even show up? No, actually Gail was pretty sure she knew exactly why her mother was there and if she found a single news truck in the parking lot she was going to be sick.

“Gail, I’m so glad you’re alright. I called everything in the second you hung up,” said Elaine.

The hug broke but Elaine was still holding on to Gail’s arms which kept her stuck in place. All Gail wanted was to get to Holly. Being stuck with her overbearing mother was pretty much the exact opposite of that in her head.

“Come with me, you’re going to give your statement to the sergeant and then I’m taking you home.”

“What? I’m not-”

Gail tried to turn toward the last place she saw Holly but Elaine was already pulling Gail toward the kitchen’s back door.

“This way,” said Elaine.

It was futile to try and resist her mother’s directions so Gail was dragged outside and under an open umbrella. Elaine had obviously had an officer waiting for her to emerge from the kitchen in order to stay even remotely dry in the downpour. They were led to the admin building that now had lights on and was swarming with officers and, to Gail’s disgust, at least one reporter. Doing what Gail did best in forced social interactions with others, she zoned out during all the introductions and small talk between Elaine and the nearby police department’s Sergeant Luthor. He was a man in his late 40s with a bushy mustache Gail’s father would envy. Gail ran through the events of the night with Sergeant Luthor as he filled out a report. She focused on what happened after she stepped out for air so that she wouldn’t feel like she was omitting anything about accidentally getting high or any of the specifics of any moment she spent with Holly and thankfully the Sergeant didn’t care about much leading up to Gail’s discovery of Jarred.

Gail had to really force herself to focus on the conversation. Her mind kept drifting to Holly and how it was only just recently that Gail and Holly had been sitting and watching Abbot and Costello videos exactly where the Sergeant was standing. Over the past hour, Gail had been so focused on trying to make sure everyone was going to be safe but such a big part of that was Holly. She had to keep Holly safe. If something had happened to any one of those kids or any of the staff, her friends, she didn’t think she would handle it well but if something had happened to Holly...well, Gail didn’t think she’d be able to live with herself.

“That should be everything for now,” said Sergeant Luthor. “If we need anything else we’ll give you a call, Ms. Peck.”

The sergeant clapped a hand to Gail’s arm and smiled at her.

“You’re gonna make a great cop someday,” he said before addressing Elaine. “You’re more than welcome to take her home now, Superintendent. Like I said, we have your information if we need to go over anything or ask anymore questions.”

“Thank you, Sergeant Luthor. Make sure you remember to call me about the gala.”

As Elaine started to direct Gail toward the front doors, Gail actually managed to hold her ground for a second. After a moment, Elaine’s words had sunk in through Gail’s daydream and Gail managed to realize what was happening.

“I can’t just leave,” said Gail.

Elaine stopped and looked over at the sergeant who was already talking to another officer before addressing Gail.

“You don’t have to worry about your things,” she said. “Your brother is going to stay here and collect them all. Right now my main priority is getting you home. Your father is worried sick. If he didn’t have an important meeting in the morning he would have come himself.”

Of course. A meeting is always more important than your own child.

“I’m not just worried about my stuff,” said Gail.

Elaine and Gail both silently stood and watched each other for a moment. Gail didn’t need to actually say that she wanted Elaine Peck to know that she was saying she wanted to stay for Holly.

“I’m sure your friends will understand that you want to go home to be with your parents after such a life threatening ordeal,” said Elaine in the kind of tone that Gail knew meant her mother was done with this conversation and there was no getting out of it.

Weeks of not feeling like an Elaine Peck model robot were gone in seconds. It was like she had never been at summer camp. Like she had never been her own person. The realities of her life not being her own came flooding back to her. If Gail was being honest with herself, which she never was, the whole ordeal of the night had made her realize there was nothing more that she wanted to be than a police officer. But knowing that it was what she was being forced into doing made the unbearable suffocation of expectations come flooding back into her chest.

Gail resigned herself to being led out onto the porch where they were photographed while Elaine shared false pleasantries with the reporter. Then the officer with the umbrella escorted them out to Elaine’s waiting car in the nearby parking lot. Gail didn’t bother trying to stand under it. She let the pouring rain soak through the borrowed hoodie and let the cold air soak into her skin as she tried to choke back the tears that threatened to fall.

What would Holly think about her leaving so abruptly? Of course Gail would text her as soon as she was in the car but would Holly understand? Would Holly think she didn’t care? What if Holly thought that Gail was bailing without saying goodbye just because the summer was over?

Would Holly even care that she was gone?

Gail climbed into the back seat of Elaine’s car. She didn’t want to be any closer to her mother than she had to be on the drive back home. Gail pulled out her phone and just stared at lock screen picture of her and Holly before sending a short message and lying down.

===

Holly stood on the porch of the admin building watching Gail’s mother pull out of the parking lot and disappear into the trees. After everything that had happened that night the last thing she had expected was watching Gail leaving without so much as a goodbye. Trying to not focus on the tight feeling in her chest, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and unlocked it to read the text she’d felt her phone recieve a moment ago.

“I’m sorry.”

Holly rolled her eyes and shoved her phone back into her pocket. She spotted April helping a couple campers get back to their bunks and decided that if she just focused on helping out then maybe she could ignore how she felt. It would certainly be a long night and making sure everyone got home safe the next day would be equally taxing. Holly just needed to breathe and focus on what needed to get done. She couldn’t let herself get distracted again.


	27. Chapter 27

Gail sat on her bedroom floor staring at her phone. She hadn’t even changed out of her soaking wet clothes yet. Her only thought was on trying to will herself to text something, anything, to Holly.

Sorry I’m a huge asshole.

No.

Sorry I suck at saying no to my mother.

Better but no.

I miss you.

Definitely not. Too vulnerable.

Is it still kidnapping if they’re your parents?

Maybe. It was certainly the kind of dumb thing Gail would say in order to draw attention away from her awful decision to get in the car without a fight. She finally decided to keep it simple and just send the shortest thing she could. That way she didn’t have time to regret it while typing.

Gail: hi.

The silence in her room seemed to be deafening as she waited for a reply. Maybe Holly was sleeping already. Maybe she was busy helping the kids at camp. It hadn’t even been an hour. Everything could still be a crazy mess back at the camp. Gail flopped backwards on the ground and stared up at her ceiling. She’d give almost anything to be back at the camp with Holly.

Finally Gail’s phone went off.

Lunchbox: Sorry, I don’t think I know anyone from this number.

Gail sighed. Holly was obviously pissed but at least she had responded.

Gail: You don’t remember? We met at summer camp. I’m the huge asshole who lets her mother control every aspect of her life.

Holly: Starting to sound familiar. Are you the same girl who led someone on and then left without saying goodbye on one of the most terrifying nights of that person’s life?

Okay so Holly was actually a lot more pissed off than Gail would have originally assumed. She quickly hit the call button, praying Holly would actually answer. From the sounds of it there was actually a chance she might not. Normally Gail hated moments like this in relationships especially if it involved her messing up. She wouldn’t chase someone down to apologize for her mother. It’s not like it was her fault that Elaine was a controlling ass. However, Holly was different and a tight feeling formed in Gail’s chest at the thought of Holly being scared and upset back at camp.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

“What?”

“Do you really think I led you on?”

“Honestly, Gail I really don't know what to think right now. How else am I supposed to take you leaving like that?”

Gail didn't know what to say.

“Why did you leave?” Holly's voice sounded so sad that it broke Gail's heart.

“I didn't want to,” said Gail.

There was a long pause. Holly was obviously waiting for an actual explanation.

“Things with Elaine...Things with my mother are complicated. Really complicated,” said Gail. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I didn't want to leave. I…”

Gail swallowed her words.

“I really didn't want to leave. I wish I was still there.”

Holly was quiet for a moment but Gail didn't know what else to say. She could say sorry but it just didn't feel like enough and she didn't want it to sound hollow. Luckily Holly broke the silence.

“Your mom is an ass,” said Holly.

“I know,” said Gail.

“You shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

“Neither should you.”

Holly let out a short laugh.

“Yes, well as aggravated as I’ve been, at least I don’t have to live with her,” said Holly. A pause. “Are you okay? How’s your arm?”

“It hurts. All of my stuff is still at the camp,” said Gail. She looked down at the soaked bandage around her arm and realized she should probably replace it soon so the stitches don’t get nasty. “Steve was supposed to bring it all back with him.”

“If that’s the case then he only grabbed the stuff on your bunk because I have your pills and everything else that was in the cafeteria,” said Holly. “I can drop them off at your place sometime tomorrow night. If you want.”

“Thanks.”

There was a short pause in their conversation where neither party really knew what to say next. Gail wanted to know if Holly was okay but she couldn’t think of the right way to ask it. She couldn’t just ask her if she was okay when Gail already knew full well that she wasn’t. Holly was terrified. Holly didn’t have Gail’s life of constant police training and emotional neglect. Sure there was still a lot that Gail had to learn from the academy and it wasn’t like Gail wasn’t scared at all that night but she’d spent her whole life ignoring feelings like fear and just being the best Peck she could be. Holly wasn’t like that. Holly was much more open and she was caring and didn’t have the emotional depth of a pet rock.

Before Gail could find the right words, Holly was yawning into the receiver and it snapped Gail out of her thoughts.

“I need to get some sleep if I’m going to be remotely useful in a few hours,” said Holly.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to…,” said Gail.

“It’s fine, Gail. Get some sleep. I’ll text you tomorrow before I leave the camp.”

“Okay. I hope you’re able to get some sleep.”

“You too.”

The call ended and a wave of sadness hit Gail. Holly was obviously very shaken up about everything and this would be the first night they’d be sleeping without each other in awhile. They hadn’t been together long but Gail had definitely gotten used to falling asleep with Holly’s arms wrapped around her. However, the absence of anxiety over talking to Holly made Gail suddenly very aware of how wet and cold she was. Everything she was wearing was still soaked and she decided to focus on that problem before worrying about whether she’d be able to comfortably fall asleep without Holly.

Gail stood and stripped her clothes off, throwing them in the hamper behind her door before heading into the bathroom attached to her room. Even though she missed Holly, Gail forgot how good it felt to take a shower in her own bathroom with her own soap and her own shampoo. Getting out of the shower she felt a million times better than when she was standing out on that cafeteria porch staring out into the rain.

Almost as soon as she finished changing her bandage after getting dressed, a knock on her door made her jump. She opened it to find Steve’s tired but smiling face in the darkness of the hallway.

“I come bearing gifts.”

Steve shoved a trash bag through the door and into her arms. Gail looked at it, confused.

“Your duffle is inside, figured you wouldn’t want your stuff all wet,” said Steve as he pushed his way into her room and sat at her desk.

“Oh yeah, come on in,” said Gail, rolling her eyes. “Also, Holly said you only grabbed my stuff from the cabin. Thanks for leaving my pain meds, jerk. This is why girls don’t call you back.”

“I figured they were just intimidated by my good looks.”

“Sure, I mean someone out there has to be attracted to ugly guys.”

Steve laughed while Gail sat on the rug and ripped the trash bag open, pulling her duffle out. She opened it and started dumping everything onto the floor.

“Wow, two seconds home and your room is already trashed again,” laughed Steve. “You know mom made me come over and clean your room?”

“Aren’t you tired? Don’t you have your own apartment to go be alone at?”

“Figured you’d wanna know that Jarred is okay,” said Steve. “He’s at the hospital under police protection. The two goons lawyered up so they’re not saying a thing.”

“Thanks for letting me know,” said Gail. She looked at her brother and gave him a small smile before going back to sorting through her bag, throwing all the dirty clothes in the direction of her laundry basket. “Now you may leave.”

“So what’s up with you and Holly?”

Gail picked up her laptop and tossed it onto her bed behind her along with the charger while she pretended to ignore her brother’s question. If Gail hadn’t wanted to talk to Dov about her relationship with Holly she certainly didn’t feel like having the conversation with her brother.

“Are you two actually dating or is this just an Abigail Peck Goes Wild to Anger Elaine type of situation?”

“What does it matter to you? You’re too busy running around being Captain Kiss Ass, Detective Extraordinaire,” said Gail as she fidgeted with her make-up bag. “This summer has actually been the most I’ve heard from you since you made detective. I wasn’t even shocked when you didn’t answer your phone earlier.”

“You seem happy with Holly,” said Steve. He was obviously choosing to ignore what Gail had said about him being a flake. Leave it to a Peck to ignore what they didn’t want to face. “A lot happier than you did with Nick.”

“Nick is an idiot,” huffed Gail.

“I agree. That’s why I like Holly.”

“You don’t even know her.”

“I know she makes Abigail the Grouch smile,” said Steve as he got up from the desk chair and headed over to where Gail was sitting. He ruffled her hair and she smacked his hand before he headed out the door. He turned and looked at his little sister sitting on the floor glaring at him. “Mom’s probably going to try and give you a lot of grief for whatever is going on with you and Holly. I just wanted to let you know that I’m here for you, Gail. I’m really glad nothing happened to you tonight.”

Gail rolled her eyes as Steve closed the door behind him but she smiled as she tossed her make-up bag toward her bathroom’s door. He might be the world’s flakiest brother but he was the only one she had and he certainly had his moments. She definitely prefered his company to their parents’.

The pile of junk from her duffle was almost completely sorted when Gail realized that there was some of Holly’s clothes in the pile. It must have gotten mixed up with her stuff when Holly started sleeping in the frankenbunk with Gail. And it’s not like Steve would know the difference between Gail and Holly’s clothes. She picked out a flannel shirt that she had teased Holly for wearing and pulled it on over her tank top. After that she finished sorting the pile of junk and put everything away where it went. Then she turned off the light and climbed into bed making sure to plug her phone into her laptop.

Gail curled up on her side and hugged a pillow to her chest. The flannel shirt still held the smell of Holly’s soap and perfume which was comforting. Despite being back in the comfort of her own home and her own bed Gail couldn’t relax. For what seemed like forever, she just laid in the dark staring at her wall. The throbbing pain in her arm and the thoughts swimming through her brain seemed intent to keep her awake. She was worried about Holly, she was worried about her friends, and she was worried about how her mother was going to work to make her life harder in the coming weeks. It wasn’t until the sun started to lighten the edges of her curtains that Gail was able to drift off to sleep while her thoughts drifted to focus on Holly.


End file.
